


As Shadows Fall

by RainTeaandDragons



Series: The Golden Age Universe [1]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Angst, BAMF Merlin, Betrayal, Dark, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Hurt Merlin, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-23
Updated: 2013-10-02
Packaged: 2017-12-21 02:53:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 36,497
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/894935
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RainTeaandDragons/pseuds/RainTeaandDragons
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A dark shadow fell over Camelot that bled from the man who ruled the Kingdom. King Arthur was unintentionally the cause of Camelot’s destruction and only one man could fix it. Arthur needed Merlin more than ever then but Merlin wasn’t there to help him and it was all Arthur’s fault.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first in a series of stories in 'The Golden Age' universe that I created within the Merlin fandom. It is the prologue type thing which will introduce you to the main OC and other things that I have tweaked within this Merlin universe. I am not sure at the moment how many stories I will write for this universe but I am sure this will be the first of many :) Please drop me a note and tell me what you think :)  
> ~Fran x

In a land of myth and a time of magic the destiny of a great kingdom rests on the shoulders of a young man. No young man no matter how great can know his destiny, he cannot glimpse his part in the great story that is about to unfold. Like everyone, he must live and learn. And so it will be for the young warlock arriving at the gates of Camelot, a boy that will in time father a legend...his name...Merlin. Merlin's destiny has always been linked with that of Prince Arthur but what if the destiny of another was linked to Merlin's and they entwined to make one? What does that mean for Prince Arthur and the future of the land of Albion?

~O~O~O~

Merlin was curled up in his bed trying to get to sleep but what with arriving at Camelot and meeting Prince 'Prat' Arthur there was too much to think about. Honestly he needed the sleep. Sleeping in a bed was luxury compared to the floor he slept on at home so he needed to make use of it but his mind was to active to want to sleep. He closed his eyes again, willing for sleep to takeover.

'Merlin' Merlin heard a gruff voice echo in his head as if calling him, and somehow suddenly he knew where he needed to go. He sat up quickly and waited a second as if wanting the voice to speak again. When he heard nothing else he slipped on his shoes and grabbed his jacked of the end of his bed. Quietly he crept out of his room and down to Gaius's chambers; being careful not to wake Gaius he left the room closing the door behind him.

'Merlin' he heard the voice again as he left the main castle and walked a bit quicker with the cool night air nipping at his fingers and face. He followed it down into the dungeons and then further down in the lowest of dungeon right under the castle itself. As he walked further down it began to get darer so he walked back up and lit a flaming torch to show him the way, 'Merlin' the voice called again sounding more impatient now. He followed the quickly darkening passage down into the depths of the castle where he eventually came to a cavernous room. From where he stood he could see the enormity of the space around him but nothing would have prepared him for what happened next.

"Where are you?" He called cautiously and held his breath waiting. Merlin jumped back as from beneath him under the rocky platform where he stood came a huge dragon which flew high up to the caves covering before gracefully landing on a ledge facing Merlin.

"How small you are for such a great destiny...and linked to another's destiny double the greatness." The dragon chuckled

Merlin stared up to the huge dragon feeling slightly confused, "Wha...what?"

"Your gift Merlin, you know the one I mean, was given to you for a reason. Arthur is the once and future king who will unite the land of Albion."

"Prince Arthur? Ok...but what's he got to do with me and who? You said another was linked to me and my destiny" Merlin asked creasing his eyebrows in thought

"Prince Arthur will face many dangerous from friend and foe alike but without you and another he will not succeed and as a result there will be no Albion."

"No, no, no..." Merlin protested, "You must have got this wrong and who else? And tell me who else. "He stared up to the great dragon and waited for a reply.

"Merlin...there is no right and wrong but only what is and isn't in this situation. The one whose destiny is linked to yours, you do not know her yet but you will in time. "

"No, you have got this wrong...how can mine and this girls destinies be linked if I don't even know her yet? Also let them go ahead with their plans to kill Arthur and I will gladly help them with it...the guy's a prat."

The dragon chuckled darkly, "You can't choose your destiny Merlin...no one can and you also can't escape it, like the girl you are linked to, she doesn't know of your destinies yet but she will all in good time. Like you she cannot escape it. You both are destined for each other and will unite to help Arthur and you Merlin cannot run from that."

"No...You're wrong I can't be destined to protect that idiot even if there will be someone there with me."

"Then maybe it is your destiny to change that..." The old dragon suggested knowingly before spreading his wings and taking off away from Merlin towards the cavernous space below.

"No wait! Don't go...I need to know more!" Merlin yelled after him in frustration as he watched as the huge dragon fly off into the distance. Accepting he wouldn't get anything else out of the dragon at that moment in time he turned and followed the passage back up to the castle and to bed where he now finally managed to sleep.

~O~O~O~

It wasn't until the royal banquet the following night when Merlin realised the truth in the old dragon's words. The court was gathering to celebrate 20 years of peace and prosperity and as Merlin wasn't of noble birth he was there as a servant and as an assistant to Gaius. He stood to the side invisible, like a shadow listening to the King, Uther, introduce the entertainment for the night, "It is an honour to introduce Lady Helen form Mora, who will sing for us tonight."

Everyone applauded in welcome as all eyes were drawn to the back of the hall where Lady Helen was standing. Merlin turned his head to look as well to see a very beautiful woman with long brown hair standing waiting for silence so she could begin to sing. When she did begin to sing, to Merlin it was the most beautiful sound he had heard in a long while. As Lady Helen sang she looked to be almost gliding towards the head table where the king, Prince Arthur and Lady Morgana sat. Merlin watched horrified as the guests began to fall asleep and rest their heads on the tables. Merlin clamped his hands over his ears and watched in horror silvery webs began to form over the lifeless figures of the people around him. The room grew dark as the candles blew out as Lady Helens song became louder and more viscous; Merlin's eyes grew wide as the woman slipped a dagger out of her sleeve and as she approached where Arthur was sitting raised it above her head ready to plunge it into the Princes heart.

Without thinking twice Merlin looked to the metal chandelier above Lady Helen and used his gift of Magic. His irises glowed gold, the chandelier fell from the ceiling landing on Lady Helen, who hit the floor with a sickening thud; the chandelier lodged in her back. Merlin lifted his hands from his ears and looked around to see everyone waking up. Nearest to him the King and Prince Arthur standing staring at Lady Helen who had now transformed into the old woman who had lost her son at the execution the day before.

At this moment the old woman lifted herself up onto her elbows and snatched at the dagger. With surprising force she pelted the dagger at Prince Arthur who, still groggy from the enchanted sleep, just stood there eyes wide. As the old woman fell forward, dead, Merlin ran forward and pulled Prince Arthur out of the way, onto the floor. With all eyes on Prince Arthur and Merlin on the ground, no one noticed that the dagger didn't hit the back of the chair where Prince Arthur had been standing moments ago. No one noticed the figure of a woman appear in front of the table and take the blow from the dagger, no one noticed as she fell out of sight from the King slumping in front of the table.

"You saved my boy's life." Said the King to Merlin, shock still evident on his face, "you must be rewarded."

"No...no that's not..." Merlin protested awkwardly, a little embarrassed to be addressed by the King.

"No absolutely, this merits something quite special...you will be awarded a position in the royal household, you shall be Prince Arthur's manservant."

The two boys made eye contact to see the look of horror on each of their faces before looking away which was when Merlin spotted the young woman lying on the ground, with the old woman's dagger logged into her chest. "Gaius over here, quick!" Merlin cried out to the physician ignoring the look that Arthur gave him, before he too, realised what had happened and knelt down next to the young woman as well.

"Oh my," Gaius exclaimed when he saw and hurried over checking to see if she was still alive, "She's still breathing, Merlin get her up to my chambers I will follow behind." Merlin moved to pick her up but Arthur beat him to it and tenderly picked up the young woman in his arms and walked out of the hall. Merlin, Gwen and Gaius walked behind him following out of the hall.

"Lay her down on the bed," Gaius said, hurriedly collecting bandages, "Merlin I need you to hold this to the wound as I pull out the dagger ok." The old man's hands shook as he placed them round the dagger. Merlin nodded and slipped a comforting hand into the young woman's shaking ones. The young woman screamed out in pain as he pulled the dagger out her eyes snapping open to reveal two dark brown irises. "Gwen I need you to please fetch me some fresh warm water and a cloth and Arthur, I know I shouldn't order you but I need you to go down to the hall and let everyone know what is happening."

Gwen nodded and ran out the door as Arthur said, "That's fine, what should I say?" He looked worriedly from the young woman to Gaius.

"Say...say that we are not sure what is going to happen, but just reassure and let your father know that you are fine. You'll know what to do."

Prince Arthur nodded and ran from the room as Gwen came back in with some fresh warm water and some clean cloth. "Here," she handed them to Gaius, who set them down next to Merlin, "do you think she'll be ok?"

"Honestly at this point Gwen I don't know, you should get back to Morgana, we'll be fine here." He said to her with a hint of worry in his voice. Gwen nodded and left the room.

Merlin had torn down the shoulder of the young woman's dress and had begun to clean the wound one handed. Gaius took over from him so that Merlin could concentrate on keeping her calm, he squeezed her hand gently, "Don't worry we are doing everything we can to help...What's your name?" Merlin asked her quietly.

"My n...names Brooke, Brooke Myers." The young woman's voice shook as she spoke looking up into Merlin's blue eyes.

"I am so sorry this happened to you Brooke, we are doing our best to help you," he tenderly brushed a strand of Brookes short blonde hair out of her face, "I'm Merlin, and this is Gaius."

"I kn...know. I need you t...to trust m...me Merlin, It's ne...never been more im...important." a tear leaked from the corner of her eye and rolled down her cheek, "I know that th...there is nothing you ca...can do to save m...me. It has al...always been my f...fate to die h...here with y...you."

"What? But we just met Brooke I have never seen you before." He squeezed her hand gently and brushed the fresh tears off her cheeks. Gaius, who had just finished applying a bandage to the wound, subtly got up and left the room not wanting to interrupt the conversation.

"No you only j...just met m...me," she groaned and squeezed her eyes shut in pain, "Merlin I n...need you to t...trust me, I...I know about y...your magic. I am from your future, some time in your f...future you will meet m...me and y...you will kno...know me but I w...won't know you."

"You don't have to talk," Merlin began but Brooke protested so he asked, "You know me from the future but how did you get here then?"

Brooke nodded in reply as fresh tears leaked from her dark brown eyes, "I can't s...say, I don't th...think even you, kno...w what happened."

Merlin's cheeks were damp with tears now, "Oh..." Merlin paused or a moment, not knowing what to say, "Brooke, I am so, so sorry." He kept one hand in hers and the other he placed on her cheek, to wipe away more tears that had leaked from her dark brown eyes.

"M...Merlin I can f...feel myself sl...slipping away so I need you to kn...know this, and please r...remember I forgive y...you entirely. And now that you kn...know you can't ch...change what ha...happened I need to d...die here. Please tr...trust me you can't st...stop this from happening in the fu...future." She turned her face so that she could easily look directly into his eyes. "I love you." She whispered as her eyelids fluttered closed and she breathed out a sigh.

"Brooke...no Brooke please, don't be dead." More tears fell down his cheeks just as Gaius entered and walked over to him, putting an arm around Merlin's shoulders. Merlin never let go of Brooke's hand as he lent into Gaius' shoulder for comfort.

They burnt her body the next morning at sunrise in a proper ceremony, Merlin stood there till the last remnants of the fire were ash. He didn't know why he waited... after all he had only just met so her why did he care so much? Then he realised, Brooke was the young woman who the old dragon had spoken of, whose destiny was tied to his. He didn't know when he would meet her but he looked forward to the time when he would.


	2. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A dark shadow fell over Camelot that bled from the man who ruled the Kingdom. King Arthur was unintentionally the cause of Camelot's destruction and only one man could fix it. Arthur needed Merlin more than ever then but Merlin wasn't there to help him and it was all Arthur's fault.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The story starts happening in the 'present' now, so for this story in between series three and four so tell me what you think if you'd like :) Also if you have any thought's on my original character then please let me know :)

A young woman lost in the woods at night is never a sight anyone wants to see, let alone be in that situation. For Brooke Myers the words woods, lost and night were never three that she wanted to be concerned with her but somehow her worst nightmare seemed to have become her reality. Her long blonde hair was tangled and frizzy, and was matted in places with twigs and leaves where it had caught on branches. Her usually olive skin was pale and dry and the whites around her dark brown eyes were lined with red from lack of sleep. Her paler skin emphasized the bags under her eyes and her usually red lips were pale pink and cracked. Every breath made her lungs and throat feel like they were on fire from lack of water. With each step she took Brooke felt a stabbing pain in her left ankle and on her right side the knife wound. She had received it from her previous master when she had escaped and it seeped blood that soaked the pale blue gown that she wore. Her dress was torn and frayed meaning it did little for the cold. Hardly able to see anything Brooke's left foot hit a tree root and she screamed out in agony as a jolt f pain shot through her ankle. She tripped and fell to the damp ground scratching her palms on the twigs and sharp rocks that littered the ground. Dots black began to cloud her vision, making it impossible to see what little she could before. Brooke tried in vain to get up again to keep walking, walking helped keep her fear at bay, but she felt her head spin from loss of blood and dehydration. What sense she had left was gone and now only the blackness surrounded her as she fell limply to the ground. Brooke felt a stabbing pain on the side of her head as it hit large rock knocking her out and she felt no more for a very long time.

~O~O~O~

"Merlin!" King Arthurs annoyed voice filled the room, as his clumsy idiot for a manservant skidded into the room, without knocking as was his usual style of waking him up.

Gwen, who was lying next to him rolled over away from the noise as her husband addressed Merlin with his usual greeting, "Could you two give me just one half hour more sleep?" She grumbled into her pillow.

"Oops...sorry," He apologised but Merlins bright blue eyes were give away though to the fact that on the inside he was really laughing at the situation, as the scene played out every morning Arthur would through a pillow at him which would  _always_  hit its target, "Umff..." Merlin grunted, "...is that honestly necessary?" He asked and before Arthur could reply he grinned widely and said, "Up you get we're going hunting this morning, and surprisingly Gwaine is already up despite the fact he spent last night at the tavern." Merlin tried that tactic of getting Arthur out of bed warily as it mostly always worked as Arthur hated to be shown up by any of his knights, especially Gwaine.

Arthur raised a single eyebrow and trying not to reawaken he pulled back the covers and tentatively placed his feet onto the hard wood floor, groaning as he stood up he said, "That's the Royal 'we' you mean isn't it, mean the knights do the hunting and you just carry the stuff and make a lot of noise." He stretched out his fingers as he waited for a reaction to the comment and in getting none he said, "So have you forgotten how to act as my manservant or are you just being lazy again?"

"Hey!" Merlin knew he was just teasing him but nothing was stopping him from getting a little offended. He then went to the wardrobe and began to get out the cloths Arthur would wear to go hunting.

"Honestly you two, how old are you?" Gwen's voice rose from the bed silence muffled by the pillow but the amusement and frustration was evident in her tone as she broke the silence.

As if on cue Merlin and Arthur looked into each other eyes before they both burst into laughter. It had been like this for a while now, Merlin mused over his thoughts as he pulled out the rest of the Kings clothing, Arthur had changed a lot since he had first met him. The man wasn't as prat like as he used to be but he still teased Merlin and Merlin the same as ever would laugh it off, retorting with some witty comment. Though social status would never allow the friendship, since Arthur had become king things had slowly started to change and by now everyone could see the special bond the two men had forged.

Soon enough King Arthur, his Knights and Merlin were all riding out on their sturdy horses to the forest. The clear blue sky meant that the sun warmed their backs but the light cool breeze kept them comfortable in their heavy chainmail. Merlin, who was riding a large white horse, was at the back of the group surveying the scene before him, as the forest loomed closer he began to get the feeling of a shiver running up his spine despite the warmth of the day. Merlin squeezed his heels slightly into the sides of his horse and directed it to become level with the King, "Arthur..." He began, he had given up calling the King 'Sire' or 'My Lord' outside of the castle and it's grounds; conveniently, Arthur had stopped correcting him. Arthur grunted and nodded his head to how he was listening, "...I have a bad feeling about going out to hunt today. Trust me I don't think that it is such a good idea."

"Merlin..." A slight pout forming on his lips he raised an eyebrow, "I know that in the past your gut feelings have turned out to be correct but look at the day, it's perfect for a hunt!" He let out a dark chuckle and those of the knights that had overheard the conversation followed suit, all but Percival, the quietest of the Camelot Knights. Percival watched Merlin thoughtfully as the King chuckled to himself.

Merlin frowned, creating subtle creases in his pale skin, "Arthur," He said a bit stronger than before, "I really think we should go back." He stared around at the vast canopy of leaves above him, the light nudging through the gaps in the leaves creating a dappled effect on the ground.

"Look Merlin, if you really want to you can stay at the spot we choose to leave the horses, if something happens it is then our fault not yours. Fair?"

"No but..." He started to reply in frustration but Arthur cut across him.

"You will stay; we need you to stay with the horses. You make more noise than needed and honestly if something happens then it is easier to defend ourselves without having to look after you to." Arthur turned to face Merlin to see a strange look on his face which he couldn't quite place, "You understand don't you?"

"Yeah course!" Merlin grinned widely at the thought of not having to trek through the forest carrying everything the knights couldn't. "Where are we going to stop?" Merlin turned back to face straight ahead just in time just as a low hanging branch loomed in front of him nearly whacking him on the head before he ducked calling out to the knights behind him, "Duck!" His yell made them all double over laughing, doing all they could to stay on their horses.

Finally Arthur caught his breath just long enough to tell them all to stop, as he dismounted his horse he grabbed the cross bow from its saddle and turned to face the rest who were now standing in a semi-circle around him waiting for instruction. "You know the drill, everyone follow me. Merlin you wait here like we discussed..." He grinned placing a firm hand on Merlins shoulder in farewell.

"And honestly Merlin, don't wander off..." Gwaine joked in a perfect imitation of Arthur's weary tone that was always associated with Merlin when he was bound to do soothing stupid. "We can't help you if you get lost." He winked and clapped in on the shoulder as did Leon, Elyan and Percival as they left the clearing following their King, chuckling to themselves all the while.

As the crunching of twigs and leaves underfoot eased to silence Merlin stared around the small clearing, he had no idea how long it would take them to get back so contradictory to the kings orders he took a last quick look at his surroundings and then wandered down a path. Arthur couldn't have expected him to stand around waiting for them. He laughed to himself as he walked; making notes of which direction he was going. Merlin was about to turn back when he noticed a small movement out of the corner of his eye. Frowning slightly he stepped closer to whatever moved as it let out a very human sounding cry of pain. "Hello?" he called out cautiously. Merlin slowly moved forward following the noise, he was unsure of what he would find. He quickened his pace as a saw a few splotches of blood on a nearby rock and a piece of torn cloth clinging flimsily to the thick root of a tree.

Up ahead on the un even track Merlin could see the body of a young woman around his age he would imagine, her long blonde hair was tangled and knotted with leaves and twigs. The young woman's long pale blue dress was torn to the knee and frayed so much that you could no longer tell where the hem of the dress was. Merlin knelt down next to her and rolled her onto her back to see a horrible sight. He brushed some strands of stray hair from her left eye which was purple and puffy standing out against her pale skin. There was a slash in her cheek that was slowly seeping blood and there were extensive cuts and grazes along her arms and legs. She had a head wound on the right side of her forehead which was also bleeding down the side of her face, it was then that Merlin realised that she had seen the young woman before.

It was as his line of sight moved from her face to the deep wound from a knife just above her left hip that he realised where he had seen her before; his second day in Camelot at the banquet, that same young woman had appeared in front of the head table and taken the blow from the dagger that was meant for Arthur...he remembered sitting with her as she had died. She had told him her name, Brooke, and that their destinies were linked. She told him that he needed to stick with Arthur through the tough times they would endure so that they would both come out safely at the other end of their journey together. Above all she had told him he would meet her again and she wouldn't know him, he gathered this was the time. This time he met her it was different. This time he had a chance to save her life.

On this thought Merlin gathered all his strength and partially using his magic he lifted Brooke to cradle her in his arms and began to walk back the way he came. He followed the path her had magically mapped out in his mind to ensure he wouldn't get lost like Gwaine had said.

~O~O~O~

The hunting trip had turned out to be very uneventful, with no catch they unanimously decided to turn back and much to the groups delight they had to endure Gwaine's inane chatter all the way back to the clearing. As they reached the clearing it was Percival who realised there was something very wrong with what they were seeing, "Where's Merlin?" He stated worriedly as he stared around the clearing.

"What?" Arthur asked in horror and annoyance, it was evident in his tone of voice that he was worried but it also betrayed his suspicion that Merlin had just stupidly wandered off. Or that was what he hoped. "Spread out search the clearing and then further out from here. We need to find him."

"Sire wait a moment," Leon paused in his sentence listening to the sound of loud shouts and thundering feet, "are they bandits?"

Arthur looked up, "Sir Leon?" he questioned and then as he heard what Sir Leon had heard before saying, "Right Sir Percival and Sir Gwaine look for Merlin. Me, Elyan and Leon will fight off the bandits so you can find Merlin and bring him back. The idiot has probably gotten himself lost again."

Percival and Gwaine turned to search for Merlin but didn't have to go far as he was making his way towards them very slowly and carefully. They saw that in his arms he cradled a young woman who looked to be on the very brink of death. "Merlin...what?" Arthur asked staring at the girl.

"Arthur trust me...we need to get her back to Camelot." He stared pleadingly at Arthur.

"MERLIN! Out of the way!" Arthur yelled at him instead of answering as a tumult of yells echoed into the clearing. The bandits had arrived. All the knight's drew their swords as the bandits entered the clearing, Merlin moved out of the way as quickly as possible with Brooke in his arms. Just as he had moved her out of harm's way he turned around to see a couple more bandits moving in from the left. He stood up and called out to warn the knights of the new attack; in the few seconds that his back was turned the bandits caught up with them. Merlin turned back to Brooke to feel a huge pain in his chest as a foggy dizziness over took him. He fell to the ground next to Brooke unmoving.

Gwaine heard him fall and in his anger at the bandits harming an unarmed man-most of all that it was Merlin-he turned to them and the three bandits fell with a few slashes of Gwaine's sword. He turned back as silence coated the clearing which was now strewn with fallen bodies. "It's Merlin." He stated solemnly, "When he warned us about the extra's coming in from the side he didn't notice them heading for him."

"He was to worried about us." Elyan finished off kneeling down by Merlin just as Arthur did the same.

Arthur put a hand on Merlins shoulder rolling him over to see that he was very pale, "Oh Merlin...you idiot, what have you gone and done now." His manservant's shirt had torn open and on his chest over his heart was purple and bruised; the skin had broken in places and was bleeding slowly standing out against Merlin's pale skin. As more loud yells broke the silence, they all turned to see about fifty more bandits making their way to the clearing with a determination and speed that worried them all.

Merlin lay on the ground in an agonizing pain not yet out cold he heard the sound of a huge amount of people entering the clearing. He knew he needed to get up and do something but it was as if his body was holding him back, telling him there was nothing he could do but it wasn't like him to give up so he wasn't about to now.


	3. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A dark shadow fell over Camelot that bled from the man who ruled the Kingdom. King Arthur was unintentionally the cause of Camelot's destruction and only one man could fix it. Arthur needed Merlin more than ever then but Merlin wasn't there to help him and it was all Arthur's fault.

Merlin lay on the ground in an agonising pain, not yet out cold he heard the sound of a huge amount of people entering the clearing. He knew he needed to get up and do something but it was as if his body was holding him back, telling him there was nothing he could do but it wasn't like him to give up so he wasn't about to now. Knowing that all of the knights' trust in him could go up in smoke didn't faze him as Merlin used magic to visualise what was going on around him. Using every ounce of his strength Merlin pulled himself into a standing position; with his head spinning he began to mutter a spell which would counteract his pain and dizziness. Almost instantly his head cleared and the wobble in his legs almost ceased, the pain in his chest though didn't fully disappear.

He closed his eyes and a deep confident voice left his mouth causing a still silence to fall over the clearing. As he spoke the words of the spell he closed his eyes, completely immersing himself into the spell. When Merlin opened them again his usually bright blues irises flashed a brilliant gold and a wave of golden power burst from his hand. He moved it slowly in a circle around him and as the beam of light hit each bandit the men were blasted back out of the clearing. As his eyes flashed back to their original blue Merlin saw all eyes on him. The last thing he remembered before he blacked out under the pressure of the drain of his magic was Arthur's face portraying a mixture of shock, hurt and anger. Merlin fell backwards into nothingness with one thought lingering at the front of his mind; "What have I done?"

~O~O~O~

More loud yells broke the shocked silence; the knights all turned to see about fifty more bandits making their way to the clearing with a determination and speed that worried them all. In unison they all drew their swords, again ready for the battle. But the battle never came. From behind them a deep confident voice began to speak an ancient tongue. Arthur knew what was happening but after believing for so long that it could only be used for bad he dreaded the outcome. For no magic user was good. It then occurred to him that there was only one person present that could be doing it. The voice was coming from behind him...but it couldn't be. As a bright beam of light was cast around the clearing blasting the bandits back he turned around to see his menservants eyes a bright gold. His first feeling was shock, then the painful anger overtook him and every nerve in his body was telling him to hurt Merlin, show him how angry he was at his betrayal. The pain that Merlin,hismanservant...no...his friend hadn't trusted him with that piece of vital information. What else had he been hiding from him? It was Merlin's expression that troubled him the most; the look on his face showed that he could see from Arthur's expression all that had just run through his head. There was a flicker of hope there that Arthur could see...but only a flicker as Merlin's eyes rolled back and he fell to the ground.

Arthur stared round at his knights whose shocked expressions mirrored his own. "Merlin's a sorcerer." He stated the obvious his voice shook a bit as he spoke. He leant against the tree staring down at Merlin in awe.

"Yes." Gwaine stated simply, though he would usually have a joke that would slip right in to the situation perfectly, this wasn't the time for joking around, "I know but right now we need to help him." Gwaine knelt down by Merlin who was now even paler than before and was sweating a bit though his body was ice cold. "He's freezing; we need to get him back to Gaius."

"He's right." Percival said, "We need to ignore the previous revelations until we know he is safe." He turned to Leon who seemed to have cleared his head better than Arthur had and was, in a way, second in command. "What about the girl? Merlin seemed pretty set on saving her."

"We will take her back to Gaius as well; she needs treatment more than Merlin I think." Leon said as he walked over to Arthur and steered him over to his horse and instructed him to climb up onto the animal.

Elyan helped Percival lift Merlin securely onto Gwaine's horse in front of him. Then when Merlin was secure in front of Gwaine he helped to get the woman on to Percival's horse. Once both were safe the others all mounted their horses they began the long ride back to Camelot. No one spoke a word, all lost in their own thoughts about what had just happened.

~O~O~O~

Gaius tutted to himself, he had overslept a little that morning and was behind in getting the medicines and remedy's out to people who needed him. Who he really needed was Merlin but at that point Merlin was out in the woods with Arthur and the knights, this was of really very little use to him. It shocked him however to hear the sound of frantic fast feet getting louder as they approached his door. The door was then banged open to reveal a very worried looking Percival and Gwaine both carrying a body each; one to be a very pale Merlin, and the other a body of a young woman whom he seemed to recognise from somewhere. The two men were then followed in by Arthur, Elyan, Leon and a very confused but worried looking Gwen.

"Wha...what happened to Merlin?" his eyes darted from Merlins pale face and then up to Arthur waiting for an answer.

Arthur swallowed, "We aren't fully sure..." He stumbled as his usually superior manner fell to his feet. He looked over to Merlin's lifeless figure who Percival had now placed on the bed, "...we were attacked by bandits and he got hit. When the bandits were all dead another huge amount came into the clearing. There were so many of that not even we could have fought them off."

"And..." Gaius prompted worriedly. He had guessed what had happened next and didn't really want to hear but he knew he needed to know.

"...and" Gwaine continued as he lay the girl down on the spare bed on the side of the room, "Well Merlin, he was unconscious and then suddenly he was able to stand and well..."

"He used magic to kill all the bandits. He saved us but it seemed impossible...I mean, It's Merlin." The frown on Leon's face portrayed exactly how unbelievable the situation was.

However it was Gaius's reaction that shocked them all, "Well of course he did." He raised an eyebrow, "How else do you think you have survived every other time you were mortally wounded? Merlin has saved you in more ways than one since the day he met you. Leave him to get better...then you can arrest him or whatever you want to do but if you do I would think about it first think about whom he is to you really." Gaius looked to the girl, "Who is she?"

"We don't know..." Elyan answered, "...we had left Merlin at the clearing until we came back from hunting when we got back he was holding her. He asked us to take her back to Camelot because she was apparently important to him

At that point everyone turned to Merlin as he took in a deep breath and groaned, "Gaius...help...her." His eyes snapped open to reveal instead of his usually bright blue ones, his eyes were gold. "Magic...overload; I need...I need rest...just half an hour...then I can heal myself." His eyes fluttered closed again and his body shook a bit before falling still again.

Gaius turned urgently to Percival, "I know I shouldn't ask you but Percival please could you get me some warm water and also some fresh clean water, Gwen I need you to ask a servant to get lots of blankets for Merlin. He is ice cold and he needs to keep warm or he definitely won't be able to heal himself."

"Of course," Percival replied in his usual quiet manner and followed Gwen to the door.

"Arthur, Elyan, Leon, and Gwaine I am sorry but I really need you to leave. It will be easier to work with less people in the room."

Arthur tried to protest but Elyan steered him from the room. The rest followed slowly, back to their separate chambers, still in shock of what had been revealed...all but Gwaine who turned to leave but without the others noticing he stayed and sat by Merlin's bed. Gaius didn't ask him to leave and then turned to where the girl was lying on the spare bed. He assessed her injuries then began to mix a cream to heal the cuts and scratches on her skin.

"Gaius...here are the blankets." To Gaius's surprise it was Gwen not a servant who entered the room at a run and began to spread them out over Merlin. "Will he be all right?" She looked at him worriedly.

"Yes he just needs some rest and then he will be fine. You should go look after Arthur I am sure he is still in shock. Don't worry about Merlin he will be all right."

Gwen nodded and turned to leave nearly bumping into Percival who was entering the door with two buckets of water; one warm and one cold. He was about to put the one with the warm water next to Merlins bed but Gaius stopped him in his tracks, "Could you put that one next to his bed in his room. It's easier if he is in his room; I need this more comfy bed for the girl, as she is in a worse state than Merlin."

Percival nodded placing down the bucket of cold water next to Merlin; he then walked up to Merlins room and put the buck of warm water up there. "Do you want me to carry him up?" As he saw Gaius's nod in reply he picked up Merlin, blankets and all, and carried him up to his room. He then carefully lowered him down to his bed and covered him in blankets. Percival whipped around as he heard Gwaine speak, he hadn't noticed the other knight sitting next to Merlins bed. He had been uncharacteristically quiet. He walked down stairs to partake in the conversation.

"Is there anything I can do for you Gaius?" Gwaine asked quietly, contradicting his usually loud and cheeky character.

"If you would, could you just sit with Merlin?" Gaius handed Gwaine a thick cloth, "Soak this in the hot water and apply it to his forehead. It will help to keep him warm." Gwaine nodded and turn face Percival who was still standing in Merlins door frame, he clapped him on the shoulder as he passed; Percival did the same in return.

Percival was about to open his mouth to ask the same question but Gaius knew what he was going to say and saved him the awkward question, "Could you very carefully move the girl to where Merlin originally had been lying? It is easier to heal her from there."

"Of course Gaius," Percival replied as he effortlessly lifted the girl into his strong arms and then move to be able to easily lie her down on the bed, "I assume you don't need me for anything else Gaius? I will leave you to look after you're patient."

"Percival..." Gaius said tentatively just as the knight had got to the door.

"Gaius?" Percival turned anticipating what the kind old man was going to say next.

"Thank you." He smiled at Percival as the knight nodded his appreciation of the thanks and then left Gaius to help the girl.

As Gaius turned to the girl he got a strange sense of 'Déjà vu', and then he remembered where he had seen her before. The banquet the day after Merlin had arrived. The girl had appeared in front of the high table and taken the daggers blow. That was why Merlin had asked him to heal and look after her; for that event in her future to happen she would need to be here now even if the future event would be her death. Even her death was in the arms of a very different Merlin; a Merlin before he knew her, it needed to happen. Gaius began to clean the cuts and scratches that were scattered over her pale skin; it was as he dipped the cloth into the water to clean it he remembered her name. He whispered it out loud to see how it fit to recreate the memory, "Hello Brooke Myers." Gaius continued to treat her wounds and he carefully bound the deep wound in her side to stop the bleeding until Merlin was able to perform magic again and heal her fully.

~O~O~O~

Arthur had no desire to go do anything, none to eat, none to drink, and even no desire to talk to Gwen. The fact that Merlin was a sorcerer was impossible, incomprehensible and yet his manservant had used Magic right in front of his eyes. How could he have not noticed in the past five years that someone that close to him was keeping such a big secret from him? The confusion turned slowly to anger as he stormed into his chambers, "WHY?" He yelled angrily. Arthur kicked the bed aggressively, his anger clouding the pain in his foot. The feeling that was now beginning of course through his veins, he realized wasn't anger as much now but pain at the knowledge that Merlin hadn't told him. The man who he thought to be one of his closest friends had kept something from him so big that his anger had turned him to be violent. He didn't want to see Merlin, he didn't want to acknowledge him; he didn't want to know if he was ok. Arthur knew he was being childish but he couldn't stand the thought of him. He wanted to forget about him, to forget Merlin had ever existed. He needed to make it so Merlin didn't exist. He felt so broken inside that he didn't think that he would even care if Merlin died. Arthur's mixed feelings of confusion, anger and hurt had overtaken any chance of rational thinking; Merlin had to be punished.


	4. Chapter 3

Brooke had thought that the time she had spent alone in the forest was the worst time she had ever spent. Though she had never felt true love and care from the many masters that she had served as a servant, in that forest in the dark she had thought was by far the most alone she had felt. Brooke knew that she probably didn't deserve love and care anyway, she was nothing. She wasn't as beautiful as any of the women and girls she had been servant to; and she most definitely didn't have the money or power that they had. All she had was Merlin or so her vision had showed her. That was why she had run; she'd had a dream, a dream that had shown her all she needed to know. Brooke had spent her life being passed from master to master as a servant, being sold and bought like a loaf of bread. The visions and dreams that she kept experiencing were all that kept her from completely giving up hope. They all ended up being true, each time she had one of her visions a few days later it would happen and she would be passed on to a new master. Her last vision had showed her the image of a face. A man with a cheeky smile and raven black hair; it was his eyes though that she remembered the most, they were a piercing blue. A deep commanding voice had whispered his name in her ear,  _"His name is Merlin."_ And it wasn't that the voice had told her that she needed to find him, she wanted to find him. Brooke had run, run to someone whom she didn't know, that she didn't even know the whereabouts of. She had just run, run faster then she had ever done in her life.

It was however until Brooke was wherever she was now she felt more alone than ever, she had thought that her time in the forest she had felt that feeling the most, but now, now she knew she was wrong. The total darkness ate at her hope and her strength. She couldn't feel, see, taste, hear or smell anything; all she had were her memories and her thoughts, everything else had been eaten by the darkness. All that could keep her going was the thought that when she got out of there…if she got out of there she would finally meet Merlin. She tried to scream out to him but no sound came out. She tried to run but she couldn't move. As her fear began to overtake her thoughts any ounce of hope that she had left had begun to fade. She knew her time was running out.

Suddenly out of the nothing of senses came an explosion of feeling. The black became white, the pain ebbed through her every essence and then finally she could feel, feel the comfy bed around her. Then she heard a voice a, panicked voice that sounded very close. She wanted to open her eyes but she couldn't it was too bright; going from nothing to everything was the most confusing feeling she had ever felt. There was a lingering tingling feeling right where her heart was and then she knew. Merlin had brought her back to the land of the living. Merlin had magic, he was a warlock, and how else could he have saved her from that hell. A sudden pump of adrenalin ran through her body and the pain suddenly stopped; finally letting her eyes snap open.

~O~O~O~

Gwaine watched the lifeless figure of Merlin; he could see his eyes moving slightly behind his closed lids and then every so often a faint gold glow sneaked out from under his eyelids. Gwaine knew his friend had magic but it didn't stop him from watching the process in awe. He assumed that because Merlin and his powers had been cooped up inside him when he used a huge amount of power his body wasn't used to it and went into shutdown for a little while; he made a mental note to ask Merlin later. To be honest Gwaine thought it was great that his friend had magic and couldn't wait to see him use it more. He dipped the cloth into the warm water again and held it to Merlins forehead, it was at this point that Merlin took in a deep breath and sat up nearly making Gwaine, who was deeply absorbed in his thoughts, fall of his chair.

"Gwaine!" Merlin was as surprised to see Gwaine there as Gwaine was to see him sit up so quickly.

"Merlin! And that's Sir Gwaine to you!" He winked, letting the usually swagger enter back into his voice. Gwaine grinned at Merlin and said, "How are you feeling mate?"

"Great! I honestly feel like I could run a few laps around the castle walls!" Merlin grinned widely at the long aired man in front of him.

Gwaine raised an eyebrow, "Right…you remember what happened before you got…" he paused, not too sure what to fill the space with, "erm…knocked out?"

"Well I saved you all using magic then the last thing I remember was all the warmth that my magic leaves in me being drained then nothing." He frowned slightly, "Brooke…is Brooke ok?" He exclaimed jumping out of the bed and then running past Gwaine into the room beyond. The first thing he saw was Gaius sitting on a chair next to a bed, the bed had a figure in it that he then remembered he recognized; Brooke. "Hello Gaius!" He said cheerily moving closer to the bed, his eyes widened as he saw the state poor Brooke was in.

"Hello Merlin, I have done everything I can do to help her but she is fading and fading fast. She is nearly gone. I am so sorry." He looked over to the dark haired man sympathetically to see that Merlin bright blue eyes were glistening slightly with unshed tears.

"I was too late," Merlin whispered sadly momentarily forgetting about being a warlock.

"Merlin," Gwaine said, watching the scene with an expression on his face that showed he thought Merlin had missed something. "Your magic, can't you use it to heal her?"

At Gwaine's words he felt like all those times Arthur had called him an idiot had actually taken affect; Merlin nodded then put a hand over the deep wound in Brooke's side, just above her hip. He pulled his power from his heart and soul, closing his eyes he began to speak; Merlinlet his powers run from him through to Brooke's damaged and broken body. Merlin opened his eyes again as he finished the spell and his eyes flashed gold.

They all looked down to where Brooke was lying on the bed to see her eyes snap open reveling her dark brown irises. Brooke' s eyes moved from Merlin, then to Gwaine, to Gaius and then back to Merlin whose face her eyes didn't leave, like she was studying him.

"Hello Brooke," Merlin said calmly, "How are you feeling?" He smiled kindly at her as he waited for an answer, he watched her open her mouth as if trying to speak but no words came out. So when no answer came, he tried again, "Brooke, are you ok?" There was still no answer but Merlin watched as the young woman slowly swung her legs round off the bed for them to land on the hard wooden floor. Just as slowly as her last movement Brooke straightened her legs enabling her to stand, her eyes never leaving Merlins face as she did so. Almost straight after she let out a cry of pain and wobbled to fall into Merlin's waiting arms. As calmly as possible he lowered Brooke to sit back on the bed. "Is it your ankle?" He asked and when Brooke gave a slow nod he sat down on the chair that Gaius had just vacated. Carefully he pulled the leg that Brooke had indicated so that it rested on his knee and then began to examine her ankle. She winced slightly at the touch of Merlins cold fingers but didn't say anything; "It's not broken, "Merlin deduced, "Thank the heavens but it is twisted slightly and badly bruised. I will wrap it tightly and if you have something for the pain Gaius, she will be able to walk normally by tomorrow night if she does walk around a little."

"Yes of course, one minute Merlin." Gaius walked to the other side of the room and began to prepare a pain relief serum.

Merlin turned back to Brooke, "I'm Merlin," He grinned and then said pointing at each in turn, "That is Gaius and this here is Gwaine."

"Sir Gwaine" Gwaine cut in laughing quietly to himself, "Glad to meet you!" He held out his hand politely for Brooke to shake.

To Merlins surprise Brooke did, her wide smile lighting up her face making her once quite plain features shine out making her-in Merlin's opinion-look quite beautiful. He noticed as she shook Gwaine's hand her gaze moving from him to Gwaine's face, but almost instantly it went back to his face. Merlin smiled widely at her holding out his hand as well which she took with another smile, Brookes gaze never left his face and Merlins never left hers. Merlin didn't really want to ask the way he did but he needed to know so he could help her, "Gaius…do you have any idea why she can't or won't speak?" He looked over to Brooke who was still holding onto his hand like she would lose him as soon as she let go, but Merlin didn't mind and though he wouldn't admit it…he quite liked the feeling of her hands entwined with his.

"I don't think it's that Brooke can't speak not in the literal sense anyway. She has a tongue and there is nothing wrong with her voice as she can make a sound when she is in pain. I think she is I shock from her ordeal in the forest or maybe if she was a servant before she wasn't permitted to speak…so Brook's mind has maybe forgotten how. It is more likely that she is in shock though." Gaius brought over a small tube with a pale blue liquid in it and handed it to Brooke who took it in her free hand, "Drink this Brooke, it won't taste very nice," Gaius chuckled, "but it will help with the pain."

Brooke nodded at this and drank the pale blue all in one go, she grimaced as the liquid touched her tongue but she swallowed anyway. She handed the little tube back to Gaius who took it and then asked her, "Can you write? You know with a quill and ink?"

"Why?" Merlin began but then realized, "Oh…we need to be able to communicate with her." He grinned sheepishly and turned to Brooke waiting for an answer. Brooke nodded slowly at Gaius and then turned back to Merlin who asked, "Are you tired? It's getting quite late…we can organize someone to get some paper and quills for you tomorrow so we can talk properly until you find your voice." He smiled at her as she nodded in reply squeezing his hand lightly.

"You can have my bed, it will be more comfortable for you and you have more privacy in that room up there." Merlin watched as Brooke looked at him meaningfully, shaking her head, "I will be sleeping down here so you can come and get me if you need anything." Merlin reassured her squeezing her hand lightly in return, "Do you want to have a bath?" He asked her and when she nodded in reply he said, "Ok then I will get someone to fill you one and to bring you some cloths. I think you would be about Gwen's size and I know she will be happy to give you some." He grinned at her widely, "I will be back!" he moved to get up but Gwaine put a hand on his shoulder.

"I'll go Merlin, you my friend can clear your room a bit and change your sheets. They probably need it if Brooke is going to sleep there!" He laughed out loud, clapping Merlin on the shoulder as he left the room to get what Merlin required.

~O~O~O~

About an hour later Brooke had been bathed and dressed with the help of one of the Camelot servants. She was now lying in a comfy bed feeling better than she ever had in her whole life; she felt clean, comfortable, warm, and cared for all because Merlin had shown her kindness. The man sat next to her bed on a seat, Brooke wanted to say something to him but every time she went to open her mouth she didn't know what to say or how to say it. She knew her body had forgotten how to speak but she wanted to thank him but her body wouldn't let her, she had forgotten what her voice had sounded like. What is she said the wrong thing? Brooke slipped her hand into Merlin's which had been resting on the side of the bed. She explored her brain for the words she needed to use the right sentence for the situation, "Tha…" She faltered he voice sounding strange and loud in the silent room not having heard it in so long. She tried again and this time the words sounded right as they rolled of her tongue, "Thank you Merlin." She smiled as she said the words staring up into Merlins bright blue eyes.

Merlin smiled back, a warmth spreading through his body as he heard her speak, happy that she had felt comfortable enough around him to say something to him. "Good night Brooke." He replied squeezing her hand, Merlin stood up and blew out the candle on the little wooden table by the bed. He left the room closing the door quietly behind him.


	5. Chapter 4

The crowds had gathered around the raised platform in the center of the Camelot castle grounds. It had been a very long time since anyone had been executed for the use of magic and everyone wanted to see who it was who had been the latest to have been caught using magic. Brooke stood amongst them with Gaius next to her but yet again there was one difference with her presence; she knew who was going to be executed. She watched with sad wide eyes as King Arthur stepped onto the balcony, Queen Gwen one step behind him slightly to his left. Arthur was in his ceremonial tunic, pants and ceremonial red cloak and a solemn expression his eyes were lightly blotched with red and he didn't look happy at all about what he was going to do. Gwen behind him looked to be on the brink of breaking down, her hands folded nervously into her pale purple dress, looking just as nervous as Arthur was. Brooke heard as Arthur began to speak but she didn't really want to listen. She felt detached from her emotions but she knew she felt absolutely distraught…so then why wasn't she in tears like Gwen was?

"People of Camelot, about 25 years ago my father put a ban on magic that would sentence anyone to death who practiced such things. I as the King need to carry on that tradition in my father's honor. Bring forth the criminal to the block!" She heard him yell noticing the strain in his voice which she assumed was because of what he was about to do to one of his closest friends. Brooke watched as a man dressed in a blue shirt and dark brown jacket, light brown pants and black boots was being led through the crowd. This could have been any old serving boy but for his strikingly black hair and red necktie that he was never without. The pitiful figure of Merlin was being pulled through the crowd to the center platform and then roughly turned to face the King "Do you have any last words?" She heard him call down flinching at the harsh words that the King had called down to his former friend.

Brooke felt her heart begin to beat faster and faster and now the tears were falling, falling think and fast down her cheeks. She felt the knot in her stomach become larger and larger as she watched her friend, Merlin, being roughly dragged to kneel in front of the King. She watched as Merlin opened his mouth and spoke six simple words, "Long live the King and Queen!" As Merlin was forced to put his head down onto the block she closed her eyes not wanting to see it happen. More hot tears leaked out onto her cheeks as at the last minute before the executioner brought down the axe on Merlin's neck her eye's betrayed her and they opened again. She opened her mouth and screamed helplessly up at the King; "MERLIN! PLEASE ARTHUR DON'T!" Hot tears burnt her cheeks as she yelled wanting anything but the scene that was about to play out in front of her. "MERLIN!" she yelled again as King Arthur brought down his arm and the axe found its place in Merlins neck, leaving the young man lifeless.

~O~O~O~

Brooke sat bolt upright in bed, her cry of "MERLIN!" still escaping her lips and her cheeks were thick with hot wet tears that seemed to have soaked her pillow through. She tried to calm out her heavy breathing by reminding herself that it was only a dream but she remembered when she had dreams as realistic as that they always turned out to be true. She was shaking and suddenly the warmth that she had found in the blankets on her bed before was totally gone. The sound of the door being urgently pushed open made her jump and the familiar face of Merlin rushed through the now open door holding a candle. She thought that seeing Merlin would help calm her down but seeing Merlin after knowing what she knew only made her get more upset.

"Brooke…what's wrong!" Merlin asked her as he ran through the door and sat down next to her shaking body on the bed, placing the lit candle on the little wooden table next to him. A little voice at the back of his mind mentioned that it was probably not the best for him to have burst into her room like that, it was fine with Arthur but Brooke…he studied her tear soaked face trying to think what could possibly be wrong. When Brooke didn't answer he put his arm around her letting her rest her head on his chest in what he hoped was some sort of comfort for her distress. "Please talk Brooke," he said, "I need you to tell me what has upset you." Merlin rubbed her back a bit to comfort her and then with the other arm he pulled the blanket over Brooke to keep her warm. "Don't worry, you'll be fine. I'm here and I'll stay here for the rest of the night ok." As Brooke nodded into his chest he lent back against the wall to make himself more comfortable. Merlin kept his arm around her and pulled more blankets around Brooke to keep her warm. "Go to sleep, you'll be fine now. Don't worry."

Brooke heard the comforting words leaving Merlins mouth and really wanted to be able to respond but her voice wouldn't come; she took in Merlins words and tried not to worry about what she had seen. Brooke leant against his warm body and with Merlins arm around her she tried to get back to sleep. To Brooke's joy Merlin stayed like that the whole night with her in his arms so whenever she woke up, startled from the same image of her dream, he would be there to comfort her. For now all was as it should be; and for a moment, Brooke didn't want the next day to come at all.

But come it did. Merlin jerked awake but was still groggy from his uncomfortable sleep and was about to wriggle into a more comfortable position when he felt an unusual weight on his chest. He then remembered as the night's events flickered into his mind. Brooke looked so peaceful now as she slept; there were pale red patches around her eyes from the tears that had run down her cheeks. The sight of her there made him smile as he slowly shifted himself so that he could lay Brooke back onto the pillow and pull the covers around her. He then left the room pulling the light wooden door shut behind him. Merlin pulled on a clean blue shirt, long pale brown pants and his boots. As he was tying his red neck tie around his neck he check to see is Gaius was still asleep, to find his bed already empty. He grabbed his previously discarded light brown jacket from the chair where he had slung it the night before and poked his head around Brooke's door to see if she was still asleep. Judging by her peacefully still figure he assumed she was and left to find someone who could get some dresses for her to choose from and wear while she was in Camelot. He was walking along one of the corridors when his stomach rumbled and he remembered that he still needed to tend to the King and Queen's needs, which would certainly include some breakfast. Merlin ran to the kitchens where he found someone to tend to Brooke until he could get free and then collected the King and Queen's breakfast to take up to their chambers.

~O~O~O~

Later after Arthur had been steered out of Gaius's chambers by Elyan he had gone back to his room he had let his emotions run wild. His feelings were confused and so messed up that he didn't want to talk to anyone for fear of saying the wrong thing. His anger at Merlin that he had lied to him for so long was paramount but there was a quiet rational voice muttering at the back of his mind that if Merlin had said something he, Arthur, wouldn't have believed him one bit; that and the fact that if his father had found out Merlin would be dead. He felt hurt that someone he considered a friend had been keeping such a big thing from him and not even trusted him with it. The knots in his stomach he knew wasn't from a physical punch but the blow that afternoons revelations had given him was enough to make him feel sick in the stomach. The fact that Merlin –  _Merlin!_ – that idiot of a servant that he had first met five years ago was a sorcerer and had evil in his veins was so hard to believe and it confused him for what to do next. He took out the frustration on his bed by throwing his foot head long into the side of it. The pain that ensured and his yell of "WHY?" made Gwen come running down the corridor to see what was wrong with her husband.

"Arthur! What is wrong?" Concern filled he face as she saw Arthurs tear stained face contorted with a mixture of anger, pain and confusion. "Why are you so angry? Is it because of what happened to Merlin? Or is it something he's done?" The stream of muddled questions left her mouth without her thinking twice, Gwen hadn't been told anything since the knights had brought back Merlin looking close to dead. "Who is that girl?" Gwen walked tentatively over to Arthur and steered him over to the bed where they both sat. She kept her arm around his broad shoulders and asked, "Please Arthur, tell me what happened."

So reluctantly Arthur explained everything, from what had happened at the clearing until the reveal of Merlins magic. He told her as much as he could about the girl which to be honest wasn't very much. His retelling of that day's events to Gwen helped him to also sort it out in his own head and then in turn attempt to sort out his feelings about it. He tried to explain this to Gwen as best he could but his words seemed to get muddled when they came out his mouth to the open air. Gwen's reaction to the revelations seemed to confuse him more as compared to his angered state she was to be able to take it calmly, she even sounded slightly happy about it for Merlins sake.

"I mean, Arthur why be so angry with him? He kept that secret from so you wouldn't have him executed and then he couldn't protect you? You wouldn't be here without Merlin; you need to cut him some slack." She said with a slight plea in her voice.

"Merlin is nothing but a liar and a traitor to the crown. He needs to be punished accordingly." The words had left his mouth without him letting them go willingly, but it was from that moment forward that he knew that despite Merlins wavering friendship and loyalty over the past five years he couldn't let Merlin's actions pass.

"Arthur!" Gwen replied in disgust getting up from the bed and turning to face him, "What has happened to you? Merlin is your friend…" Arthur tried to protest but Gwen kept speaking, "…yes Arthur I know you don't admit it but you are his fried and he is yours. You can't sentence your friends to death because of a law."

Arthur stood up as well using his height to his advantage, "Guinevere it is the law. I am the King and Merlin is my manservant. A manservant whom I can no longer trust! I have unknowingly been harboring a sorcerer, Camelot stands against magic and yet Merlin had the nerve to practice it here!" His rage flowed through his words his mind completely lost to who he was yelling at. All he knew was that he felt angrier than he had done in a very long time.

"You are the King, Arthur, but right now you aren't acting very much like one. Think about how you choose to deal with this because I know that there a lot of people who would turn against you for turning against Merlin." Leaving her words hanging in the air around them she walked out of the Kings chambers and left him standing there with his emotions written all over his face.

~O~O~O~

Merlin walked as quickly as he could towards the royal couple's chambers, a platter of food for their breakfast balanced precariously in his arms. He knew that Arthur knew about his magic. He really hoped that the shock had worn off and that he wasn't too angry; but deep down he knew the latter was an impossible hope. He knew that the King would be furious and didn't want to know of what Arthur would do. Despite the taunts about him being an idiot and a coward that he had endured for the first few years of knowing Arthur, Merlin was not; and he knew that Arthur knew it despite portraying that he didn't think so. Merlin expected Arthur to be angry but nothing prepared him for the sight that greeted him on the other side of the heavy wooden door to Arthur's chambers.


	6. Chapter 5

Merlin pushed open the heavy wooden door to Arthur and Gwen's chambers, the tray of food balanced in his other arm. The door swung open to reveal Arthur standing by the fireplace his head resting on his arms which he had leant against the mantel piece. To Merlin the man looked broken to the core but he didn't know if it was his lying to him that made Arthur act like that or if it was something completely different. Arthur didn't even respond when his manservant walked slowly into the room so Merlin carried on walking in and closed the door behind him. He walked over to the table in the middle of the room and placed the tray of food down on the table; Merlin then took a step back from the table and turned to face Arthur. The King had turned to face him, the look on his face expressing the pain and anger at what his friend had done. Merlin didn't speak; he didn't know what to say. He hadn't expected Arthur to react so badly and a simple 'Sorry I didn't tell you about my powers Arthur, please could you forgive me..." Merlin knew wouldn't suffice.

"Why?" Arthur stared into the eyes of the man who he thought had been his friend. The man whose council he had listened to above all others, the man he had trusted. That was what he wanted to know first, why hadn't he told him? Why had Merlin lied?

"You know why, Arthur." Was all Merlin said he knew the time to explain everything would come.

"No I do bloody well not! You have been in Camelot for five years Merlin; you have been my most trusted friend for most of that time. Why couldn't you trust me with the truth?" Arthur felt his blood boil, infuriated by the man's simple answer.

"Do you want me to spell in out for you?" Merlin snapped back, equally as frustrated with Arthur's angry retort.

"Yes, if you don't mind." His tone was icy but underneath he was slightly confused at Merlin's quick change to an angry tone which he usually kept under wraps.

"Well firstly there is the fact that magic is outlawed in Camelot and if you or Uther had got wind of me being a sorcerer then my head would be off before you could count to twenty. Secondly if you had known then you would have had to of chosen who to stay loyal to; me or you're father. I didn't want to have to put you in that position and thirdly it was better for you if you didn't know so that I could fulfill my destiny and protect you to the best of my ability without your knowledge and interference." Merlin paused looking straight into his friends bright blue eyes. "Is that clear enough for you?" He then said putting as much venom into the sentence as possible.

"For now…" Arthur replied slowly, still recovering from Merlin's sudden outburst of anger and from the look on Merlins face he was surprised by it as well. "How could someone like you hold so much evil?" He knew he sounded ignorant but he needed to know.

"Despite what you grew up being taught Arthur, not all magic is evil. It depends what you choose to do with it. I was born a warlock so magic is part my being, it is within my very blood, it has shaped who I am since I was a little child." Merlin tried to explain but by the look on Arthurs face he knew it was going to take more than that.

"So you are evil like the rest of them? You're evil and a liar." Arthur retorted

"Didn't you just listen?" Merlin replied in frustration, "I use my power for good. I have lost count of the amount of times I have saved your life using magic Arthur, with no repayment, no thanks. Please Arthur, believe me when I say that I have only ever used my power for the good of Camelot and never to bring it down. I have only wanted to help you become the King you are today, to help unite the lands of Albion." Merlin said earnestly all anger and frustration gone, "You have every right to be angry at me Arthur because I lied to you for all of the five years since I met you but I only did so for your benefit."

"You still lied to me Merlin and that's what matters. I told you once that I needed a servant I could trust."

"I said that you could trust me and you still can Arthur." The pain Merlin felt right now was over powering. He had hoped that Arthur may have found it in his heart to forgive him but now he knew that he was naïve to have thought such a thing.

"No Merlin I can't, you are a traitor and…" Arthur began but then paused as he saw the look on Merlins face, the pain and the hope that had at that moment totally left him, "…for that you will be punished.

"Arthur please…" Merlin begged his voice coming out as barely a whisper, "…think about what you are about to do."

But Arthur ignored him, "I have Merlin and by the laws of Camelot those who have practiced magic must be punished." He willed his voice not to break as he yelled, "Guards!"

The Guards who had been guarding the door of his chambers entered the room at a run, "Yes Sire." They replied in unison.

"Take Merlin down to the dungeons. He will be brought food three times a day and people can only see him by appointment via me. And," Arthur said to the guards pointedly as if for Merlin to listen to this instruction as well, "if he tries to escape I give you permission to execute him on the spot." It pained him to say those words but it was Merlins choice to betray him and if he tried to escape then on his own head be it. Arthur knew deep down he was being unreasonable and that anything he did to Merlin he would regret but at that moment his anger and pain clouded his thoughts so everything he did was influenced by that. He watched as Merlin was led away by the guards, one on each arm. Merlin didn't struggle, he didn't even respond to the guards hold on his arms. His expression neutral but his eyes betrayed his real feelings. Merlin looked just as broken as Arthur felt.

When Merlin was gone Arthur turned and as his legs gave way beneath him and he sank onto the bed. His body was shaking under the strain of what he had just instructed his guards to do. Hot tears slowly ran down his cheeks, each one reminding him of the hurt look in Merlin usually bright blue eyes as he had been led from the room. Each tear reminding him of what he was about to do.

~O~O~O~

Brooke woke that morning to the morning sunlight that was streaming in through her open window. Someone had opened the curtains and left out some simple dresses for her on the bed. Brooke searched the room to see if Merlin was maybe still there but in not finding him, she assumed he had gone off to fulfill his duties to the King. She swung her legs of the bed and attempted to stand, gingerly testing her weight on her ankle which didn't give way under her. Brooke smiled widely at this and still limping slightly she changed into the pale red dress; it was of a simple but comfortable fit. She did her best attempted to run a brush through her long blonde hair and tied it to the left of her face in a loose plait. Once she was satisfied that she was presentable to the outside world, Brooke walked slowly down the steps to the chambers that led from Merlins room. She saw that in the room was the old physician that had helped to heal her the night before, Brooke wracked her brains for his name. As she remembered she formed the words how she thought they would sound, "G…good morning Gaius," she said slowly but tried to keep her voice in a happy tone.

"Good morning my dear, how are you feeling?" Gaius replied, momentarily forgetting about the girl's trouble with speaking, "Don't worry you don't have to answer if you don't feel you can. I will get you some breakfast." He stood up from his chair, and after seeing her thankful smile and nod of the head Gaius began to make porridge like he did for Merlin some mornings. "You don't have any idea where Merlin is, do you?" He asked looking up from his work to see Brooke shake her head forlornly, a slight shrug edging into her shoulders. "Nor do I actually, when you've finished his we can go look for Merlin so he can go show you around the castle and properly introduce you to Arthur, Gwen and the knights." Gaius returned her warm smile of thanks as he placed the bowl of porridge in front of her with a spoon next to it. To Brooke, who hadn't eaten for a day and a half, the porridge tasted like heaven and she had never tasted anything so good.

Soon after she had finished and washed her bowl of porridge, Brooke was following Gaius through the bustling lower town and up to the main castle. She stared around at the people going about their daily business, curious about what they were thinking and what they were doing. She turned back to Gaius and kept following him up the wide set of stairs that led up to the main castle, she stared in awe at the huge wooden double doors that served as the main entrance to the castle. It was Gaius's voice that brought her back out of her state of wonder and back to the present, "Brooke, I think we should go up and see Arthur first and I have a good feeling that Merlin will be there too." Brooke nodded and returned Gaius's smile as she followed him up another flight of stairs.

The scene that greeted them both at the top of the stairs made them both stand still in shock. Merlin was being pulled in the direction of the dungeons by two burly guards who looked like they weren't too happy about what they had been ordered to do. "Merlin!" Gaius cried out in shock as he neared the young man, "What…where are they taking you? Why are they doing this?" His eyes studied Merlins submissive posture as he was pulled along by the guards, the young man looked broken and defeated emotionally but he didn't look physically hurt. Merlin's lack of reply confirmed the old physician's suspicions that if he was being taken to the dungeons that Merlin wouldn't be allowed to speak to anyone. So it was as Merlins pained gaze locked with his, Gaius knew that Arthur hadn't reacted well to finding out about his Magic. "Come on, Brooke, we are going to seek an audience with the King." He kept walking the way they had been going and they finally made their way to the Kings chambers. Gaius turned slowly to Brooke, "Don't worry about anything, don't worry about the speaking thing I will explain everything to him."

"Th…thanks G…Gaius." Brooke responded shakily, her quiet voice only just audible as an appreciative smile crossing her face.

Gaius turned back to the large wooden door in front of him and knocked. As he heard a muffled voice allow for them to enter Gaius pushed open the door to see Arthur sitting on the bed his face in his hands. The man's body was shaking slightly but if it was from grief or anger they couldn't tell. "Sire, what happened?" He asked as Brooke closed the door quietly behind them.

"Merlin he…Merlin has…he is a sorcerer. He didn't tell me. I am sorry Gaius but he is a liar and a traitor to the royal court, and to me; I have sent him down to the dungeons, he needs to be punished." Arthur replied simply trying to sound as strong and as sure of his decision as possible but when he looked up he couldn't look Gaius fully in the eye.

"I guess he told you why he didn't tell you Sire so you don't need me to repeat it but think about what he said. All he has done has used his power to protect you. He doesn't deserve punishment for putting every ounce of his effort into defending you and your kingdom." Gaius sighed worriedly for the safety of Merlin, hoping, wondering if Arthur would make the right decision. "I won't say anything else on the subject but you truly need to think Sire.

"It is the law Gaius, I am the King, and it is my job to enforce the law. If I don't then people's faith in me will waver, also the people would have heard by now that there is a sorcerer at large in Camelot; they will be scared." Arthur felt terrible about what he had done, he knew why Merlin had kept it from him but part of him didn't want to accept it Arthur knew that it was he who was in the wrong, and definitely not Merlin but traitors had to be punished…whether they were friend or foe it didn't matter. That was the law.

"Yes, my Lord," Gaius replied deciding just agree, and that the better thing to do would be to try and talk to Merlin later and persuade him to run. "This is Brooke, she is the girl that Merlin found in the woods the day the bandits attacked you all."

Gaius motioned for Brooke to step forward and as she did, Brooke curtsied, bowing her head to the King as she did. "M…my Lord" Her stutter came through as she addressed the King, this making her feel even more nervous then she already was.

"Hello Brooke," Arthur smiled at her deciding to put on a brave face for her, this wasn't the time for wallowing in self pity. "You are looking a lot better from when I last saw you."

Brooke smiled at him and her voice letting her down she turned to Gaius helplessly, giving him a pleading look asking for assistance. Gaius obliged, "Sire I am sorry but Brooke has trouble with speaking, I think it is something to do with the trauma of being in the forest and then on the very brink of death itself. Brooke can only form short phrases at the moment."

Arthur nodded in understanding, he smiled encouragingly at Brooke before saying, "Don't worry; I am positive that you are in safe hands with Gaius to help you get better. I am very happy for you to stay here in the castle Brooke but you will need to work somewhere in the castle. Do you mind what kind of work you do in the castle?"

Brooke shrugged in reply to indicate she didn't mind but she did smile thankfully at the fact that she would be allowed to stay. Brooke was honestly happy doing anything, she had been set to do a range of tasks in her time as a servant, she would be happy doing anything. Her favourite job though had been when she had been the personal maid of a princess, that girl had been a true friend until the King of the land sold her to some bandits to retrieve the kidnapped princess. If anything, there had to be a job like that for someone in the castle.

"I need to talk to Queen Guinevere about it but how would you like to be her personal maidservant? I imagine that you two will get along very well." He smiled widely at Brooke who grinned back, her smile lighting up her whole face. He watched as the young woman nodded in reply and then turned to Gaius who was also smiling.

"Thank you sire," Gaius said smiling, "but there is one last thing I would like to ask."

"Yes Gaius?" Arthur replied tilting his head slightly to the side.

"Could it be possible for us to see Merlin?"

Arthur paused for a moment before replying, "Yes, that is fine Gaius." There couldn't be any harm in them talking to Merlin, Gaius he could trust and he was very sure Brooke wouldn't try anything stupid. "You both can go now." He said in what he hoped was a warm dismissal. He was pretty sure though that it hadn't come across that way as Gaius had reminded him of the decision he had to make concerning Merlin. He watched as they both paid their respects and left the room, closing the door quietly behind them.

Seconds after complete silence had cloaked the room another door opened and in walked Gwen. "Arthur!" Gwen said genuine surprise flitting over her face even though she knew they shared the chambers. "I thought you would be training with your knights."

Arthur spun around at the sound of his wife's voice, "Guinevere!" He smiled tentatively at her and took a slow step forward towards her, "I need to apologise to you for how I yelled at you last night. I honestly don't know what came over me to yell like that."

"Arthur I forgive you, I understand entirely why you were so angry. It is really me who needs to say sorry about how I responded. You are the King and know what is best for the kingdom." She smiled hesitantly back at him taking a slow step forward.

"There is no need to apologise Guinevere, I am entirely in the wrong. I also need to ask you something." His smile widened as he stepped forward again to close the gap and give her a light kiss on her lips. Leaving one arm wrapped around her waist Arthur carried on, "You know about the girl that Merlin rescued from the forest, well she was looking to stay here permanently and I said that she could if she took on a position in the castle."

"And..." Gwen looked up at Arthur before resting her head on his chest.

"Well I offered her the job of being your maid. She seemed very eager and I am sure that you two will get along very well." He placed a tender kiss on the top of her head and waited for her answer.

"You know Arthur that I will find it very strange, going from waiting on people to being waited on and I will only use her services when entirely necessary; but I would love to hire her.

"I am so glad Guinevere; Brooke can start work for you when you want her too." He pulled her close into his arms, "I love you my Queen."

"I love you too." Gwen replied as Arthur pulled her into a tender kiss. As she was held in his arms, Gwen felt so safe and warm there that she knew there was nowhere in the world she would rather be.

~O~O~O~

Many floors below in the dungeons a young man with raven black hair and piercing blue eyes sat in his dusty, cold prison cell. It was invisible to the outside world but Merlin had a raging internal war going on.

Should he be frustrated with the King for punishing him like this when all he had ever done was good deeds for Arthur and the kingdom?

On one hand yes he had every right to be irritated with his friend for not listening properly and could easily be annoyed with him forever. Merlin could say one word and Arthur would feel the pain he felt. The mistrust, the hurt; the way that Arthur's prejudice against magic had made him judge Merlin for what he was not what he knew Merlin to be like.

What was the point though in fighting? Arthur had made up his mind and Merlin could do nothing to change that. The King had every right to be angry at him; Arthur could inflict whatever punishment he wanted and Merlin knew that he should do nothing to stop him.

Merlin knew he would just have to wait to see what the verdict was and like he had always done he would endure whatever adversities were sent his way.


	7. Chapter 6

After Merlin had been sent down to the dungeons, it took Arthur longer than he thought to decide what to do. The internal battle going on inside him was maddening; follow the laws of the kingdom or change the laws and follow Merlin and save his friend. Neither choice was entirely right, neither choice was entirely wrong; creating one of the most difficult decisions King Arthur had needed to make yet. Which would he choose: his friend or the kingdom?

_~Day I~_

Merlin had been held in the dungeons before, once even as Dragoon the great; but he had never thought that he would be there for the reason he was then. The young warlock understood why he was there but he had never thought that Arthur would react like he had to his having magic. Merlin stared round the small cell; he wasn't exactly cold and nor was the ground really that uncomfortable but there was something about the situation that bothered him slightly. Maybe, he thought to himself, he felt that he wasn't rightly there; he then argued though that Arthur had every right to put him there. He just wasn't used to being as unsure about a situation as he was right then; that would be it, he thought. He didn't even know how long Arthur would take to decide his punishment, or maybe this was his punishment, a life sentence to the dungeons. He wanted to know though, so that he could plan how to save Arthur from himself; for Merlin knew that any decision that the King made concerning their predicament Arthur would regret.

Merlin was sitting against the back wall, leaning against the bed like bit of furniture with his eyes closed, his head resting against the hard stone wall. He snapped his eyes open when he heard the two sets of feet approaching the cell. Through the bars of the cell Merlin saw Gaius and Brooke staring down at him with looks of worry and sadness on their faces. "Merlin, what are you going to do?" he heard Gaius ask but had no idea how to answer.

"I have no idea Gaius! I can't exactly run can I? He already doesn't trust me, running won't help." Merlin stood up stretching his saw limbs, and walked forward to the front of the cell. He moved his gaze from Gaius to Brooke, "You're looking a lot better now Brooke." He smiled at her as Brooke looked up smiling and nodding slightly.

Gaius watched the exchange between the two, he saw Merlin's warm smile, but it didn't quite reach his eyes, the old physician knew that Merlin was a lot more worried than he was going to let on. "You can Merlin, I know that you can but I also know that every little bit of you is screaming for you not to."

"For our destiny to still work like it was originally set out I need him to trust me. He won't trust me any more if I run." It pained him to speak like this, because he did want to run, for Arthur's sake he should. Merlin knew that whatever Arthur decided to do his friend would regret it, and Arthur would never forgive himself. "We don't know what he has decided yet Gaius, I can't work out what to do until I know."

"Who knows when that'll be?" Gaius replied sadly, "Merlin, I will be back, please think about what I said though."

"I will Gaius." Merlin replied, his shoulders slumping slightly as he saw the physician leave. Brooke followed behind him after she had given him a sad wave in farewell.

Merlin sunk back into the position he had vacated minutes ago, just to close his eyes and fall back into his pool of thoughts.

~O~O~O~

Arthur was shocked by the corner he had backed himself into. The whole castle and even some of the lower town would know about Merlin by now, he had to do something, Merlin had broken the law. Three options: imprisonment, exile or execution; the latter being the one most advised by the law, the first the one best for Merlin and the second, well it would be the cruellest for Merlin but the easiest for him, it would be easier for him his Merlin wasn't there to make him feel that much more guilty. He knew that everyone who had found out about Merlin would be expecting the third; but anyone who had found out and knew about the relationship the king had forged with his manservant, they would be expecting one of the first two.

He knew that his highest duty was to the kingdom, its laws and its protection but if it was one thing Merlin had taught him it was that whatever he thought was right in his heart, would be right for the kingdom as well, but were Merlin's words of wisdom right for this situation. To execute Merlin would break his heart, as would exile and imprisonment, but by the laws of Camelot Merlin needed to be executed. He needed to be executed even though he was born with magic and hadn't learnt it on purpose under the king's nose. All that Merlin had ever done was for the good of the kingdom, Arthur couldn't send him to execution but the whole of the Kingdom had an aversion to magic that would mean for him not to abide to the laws would be catastrophic in the long run.

Two people now had told him to think about the decision he would make but thinking had only made him doubt his judgement more and more. Arthur knew he needed to decide, and to do that he knew he would need to talk to Merlin. Merlin had always been able to help him see clearly, Arthur knew that Merlin wouldn't take into account that it was his own death. Merlin would help him to see sense.

_~Day II~_

Arthur woke on the morning of the second day to fell a sort of heaviness on his shoulders and in his chest that he knew was because of Merlin. George served him a breakfast of bread, cold meats and fruits that morning, but despite the punctuality and quality of the service Arthur didn't want to eat. He managed a piece of the bread which was warm from the oven and his usual favourite in the morning, but it tasted strange and thick in his mouth. After he was dressed Arthur walked slowly down to the dungeons, the king felt sick in the stomach, not from the food but from the thought of what he was about to do. He didn't even know how he felt about the situation now, his anger at Merlin seemed to have dissipated somewhat but it was still there and he knew his duty really was, to the kingdom. Arthur knew that every person in Camelot was counting on him to make the right decision; but what was the right decision? There was this constant battle running through his head. Merlin needed to be punished under the laws of Camelot, for his crimes could only ever warrant execution; but the man honestly didn't deserve to be punished, or did he? Merlin had lied to the king, to the court; Arthur's best friend hadn't trusted him with the information that he was a sorcerer and now he would be punished for it. Arthur knew that he had to rule Camelot as a King and make decisions based on the rules, with no exceptions. For his people to trust him he needed to stick to the laws, he knew Merlin would understand and make the sacrifice, that's the type of person he was, not that he would have a choice.

Arthur originally thought that he was ready to listen to what Merlin had to say but now his anger had over powered him again. King Arthur had an announcement to make to the whole of Camelot and there was nothing that could stand in his way.

~O~O~O~

Brooke had woken that morning to the same dream she'd had every night since she had arrived at Camelot. In seeing that it was light she washed and dressed herself. She then walked out through Gaius's chambers, saying good morning to him along the way. Brooke wanted to go and talk to Merlin but she needed to attend to the Queen. Brooke smiled to herself, it was an honour to serve the Queen but her smile faltered as she remembered her voice. She was almost at the main corridor that she remembered led to the King and Queens chambers when she saw the King heading in the other direction. Brooke stopped and bowed her head as he passed, this having been expected at every place she had served at. Brooke then carried on to the Queens chambers; the large wooden door loomed ahead and she took a deep breath. Brooke's sharp knock on the door broke the silence; she waited until she heard the muffled reply of "Come in?" before pushing the door open. The door swung open to for Brooke to see a beautiful dark skinned woman sitting up in her bed, the woman smiled when Brooke walked in.

"You must be Brooke." Gwen gave the other woman an encouraging nod and a smile; she really hoped they could get on well. Gwen watched as Brooke nodded and smiled back. Arthur say's you have trouble speaking because of the trauma of being in the forest for so long."

Brooke nodded again, "Y...yes, m...my lady" Her stutter was again prominent in the quiet room.

"Don't worry, I will try and help you to get better, and I am sure that Gaius and Merlin will help as well. And you can call me Gwen, I think we would both rather us to be friends." Gwen smiled again, "Well I think it is probably time for me to get dressed and don't worry, George brought Arthur and me our breakfast this morning so that is one less thing you have to do this morning." Gwen let out a light laugh as she finished her sentence.

Brooke joined in with a shaky laugh, "Th...thank y...you, my l...Gwen" She corrected herself quickly with a little shake of her head. She then went over to the cupboard with Gwen to help her pick out something to wear; they picked out a beautiful purple dress which Brooke then helped her into. Brooke then tamed and brushed out the queens long, black wavy hair; she two two clumps of hair from the front of her face and plaited them until they touched, Brooke then plaited the two together at the back of her head.

"Thank you Brooke," Gwen ran her hand down the back of her head to inspect her maid's handy work, "I was thinking of walking down to see Merlin today, too see how he is. Arthur has a busy day today so I thought I could go down now when he won't be there talking to Merlin. Would you like to come along too?" Gwen watched her maids face light up at the thought of going to visit Merlin but there was sadness behind the smile that showed Brooke's view on Merlin's situation. Gwen knew her expression mirrored Brookes and knowing that there wasn't a huge amount that they could do to change the Kings mind made the whole situation that much worse.

Brooke followed the Queen out of the door and down the steps towards the corridor that led down the long winding staircase towards the dungeons. They were very nearly there when they saw none other than the King walking back in the opposite direction, with a very determined look on his face.

"Arthur, we were just going down to see Merlin. Were you just there?" She asked him her voice soft

"No I wasn't Guinevere but I need you to please come with me. I have an announcement to make to the whole of Camelot, and I need you there with me to do so." He looked pleadingly at her, Arthur knew as he was the King and she was his Queen it meant that she had to do everything he said but he wanted her there as his wife and friend, rather than his Queen.

Gwen didn't contradict his motives but she did need to know, "Is it about Merlin? You have made a decision haven't you?" She worried about Merlin's fate, and knowing her husband's state of mind only made her fret more.

"Yes I have, Just wait until we are in a more private room so I can explain. Brooke, you can be dismissed. I will be making the announcement in about an hour so if you could spread the word because everyone in Camelot needs to hear."

Brooke bowed her head, "Ye...yes, My L...Lord, M...My L...Lady" Brooke waited until they had gone before going down the winding stair case to the dungeons, to Merlin. This time Merlin was sitting and leaning against the bars on the cell. Brooke watched as Merlin's bright blue eyes lit up when he saw her standing there and she smiled. She wanted to say something but there was something holding her back. Brooke sat down next to him against the wall and waited for him to speak, thinking what she would say to him if she could. As the words ran through her head she felt a sort of warmth behind her eye's that she had never felt before.

"Hello Brooke!" Merlin smiled at her but his voice was slightly flat. He was about to say something else when he heard a voice in his head; a voice that he recognised though he had only heard very little of it.

" _Hello Merlin! How are you feeling? I need to tell you something."_

"What was that?" A confused look crossed his face as he looked over to where Brooke was sitting, her look of confusion mirroring his. "Did you do that?" He asked before the voice entered his mind again but not through any sort of sound.

" _What was what?"_

"I can hear it, your voice in my head, replying to me. Every time I speak. I only know one person who can do that, and he's not a person; he is a creature of magic."

" _Look at my eyes, I don't know what it is but every thought I have with the words I want to say to you, I feel a slight feeling of warmth behind my eyes. If you are hearing what I want to be able to say to you then it is some sort of magic."_

"Your eyes, they feel warm? Say something again and I'll watch." Merlin watched as Brooke's eyes glowed gold, the words entering his mind as if he was hearing them. "You have magic." He stated simply, he was in shock. "But it must be spontaneous, almost instinctual; it's there when you need it. Is there anything else? Anything odd?"

" _I do?"_ Merlin could hear the doubtful shock in her words, " _Yes...it's nothing really but I have these dreams sometimes, they're so vivid. They always turn out to be true. Merlin, don't worry about my magic I need to tell you something."_

"Brooke what is it? Has Arthur made a decision?" Merlin's excitement over being able to have a conversation with Brooke was gone. His mind went back to waiting.

" _Yes he has,"_ Merlin heard her tone become sad,  _"but I don't know what it is. He didn't say and is making a formal announcement in about an hour. There has to be something we can do, you need to get out of here."_

"Everyone keeps telling me that. I'm sorry Brooke but I won't run, and I won't even consider the idea until I know what he has decided. He will tell me when he's ready."

" _But Merlin..."_

"No Brook I am sorry but I can't work out what I will do, if anything at all. I need to though, somehow, save Arthur from himself." He looked into Brooke's dark brown eyes as they began to glow a warm shade of gold as he heard her voice in his head again.

" _Ok, then Merlin, I trust you to have good judgement."_

Merlin could hear the concern in her voice and then through the concern he saw the real reason she wanted him to run, "You have those dreams, the dreams that turn out to be true. You're a seer; you saw what will happen to me didn't you? You know what happens but you know you can't tell me." Merlin watched as Brooke gave him a sad nod before leaving Merlin to his thoughts.

~O~O~O~

Arthur stood where his father had stood five years before hand, about to make the same announcement. He looked to Gwen who looked just as pained as he felt but the King knew that he owed it to the Kingdom to do this and he knew that things would never be quite the same. He took a deep breath to steady his voice before speaking; "People of Camelot, about twenty five years ago my father put a ban on magic that would sentence anyone to death who practiced such things. I as the King need to carry on that tradition in my father's honor." He paused for a moment to gather his words before beginning again. "The man called Merlin has been found guilty of practicing magic in Camelot, magic has been outlawed for twenty five years, and so by the laws of Camelot I sentence him to death." Arthur almost choked on the next few words to escape his lips; "Merlin will be executed at noon tomorrow." Arthur turned slowly to leave the balcony and with a teary Gwen behind him he walked down to the dungeons to tell Merlin, his decision.

~O~O~O~

Merlin waited for Arthur to come down and tell him his decision, he didn't have to wait long. He saw his friend walk down the steps towards him a look of mixed emotions on his face. Merlin stood up at the front of the cell brushing his dark fringe out of his eyes. Arthur stood a step back from him a look in his eyes that said all the man wanted to say. "Merlin I..." He began but didn't have the words to finish the sentence.

"I know, sire, I understand." That was all Merlin need to say.

"Thank you Merlin, I am so sorry." He gripped Merlin's shoulder before he left, in a final farewell.

As Merlin felt Arthur's strong hand on his shoulder his heart sank though he had always known what his friend would have chosen to do. The Kingdom would always come first, and for that Merlin didn't blame Arthur one bit. To let him off and embrace magic would have disrupted the whole of Camelot and there would have been nothing that Merlin could have done to change that. All there was for Merlin to do now was to work out how to save Arthur from himself; because Merlin knew that his friend would blame and almost hate himself if Arthur sent him to execution, and Merlin didn't stop it. He needed to not get executed but Arthur needed to know why. He pondered the problem at hand for another few moments before he realised what he should do.

_~Day III~_

Arthur walked out onto the balcony for the second time in the past two days. His heart was beating fast and he felt physically sick. He tried to take a deep calming breath but it got stuck in his throat. He tried again and this time it worked a bit better and he began to speak.

"People of Camelot, about 25 years ago my father put a ban on magic that would sentence anyone to death who practiced such things. I as the King need to carry on that tradition in my father's honor." Arthur swallowed dreading what he needed to do next but he had to, his loyalty was to his late father not a disloyal servant, even if the servant was his former friend. "Bring forth the criminal to the block!" He said with as much authority as he could muster, willing his voice not to crack under the strain of his pain.

Arthur watched as a man dressed in a blue shirt and dark brown jacket, light brown pants and black boots was pulled roughly through the crowd. This could have been any old serving boy but for his strikingly black hair and his red necktie that he was never without. The pitiful figure of Merlin was being pulled through the crowd to the center platform and then was roughly turned to face him "Do you have anything that you would like to say?" Arthur called down to him seeing his friend alive for the very last time and dreading what he was about to do, wishing that there was another way. That he had never found out about his friends powers. He saw Merlin there, staring up at him with eyes that would not judge; like Merlin had said that his actions were his choice and he had to deal with the consequences Arthur knew that his choice to execute Merlin for his crimes was his and his alone, and he would have to deal with what came after.

"I have just one thing to say Sire, just one thing. I told you once that I would serve you as your servant till the day I die but we still haven't done all the things that we are destined to do together. I'm sorry, I am so sorry but I cannot protect you when I am dead my friend."

With those words lingering in the air between them Arthur watched as a cloud of gold dust began to swirl very, very fast around and around until it totally engulfed Merlin. Arthur felt a great warm breeze expand out to him before the cloud imploded, taking Merlin with it. The shocked silence rippled out in waves from the space where Merlin had disappeared, no one blinked; no one even dared to breathe. All eyes were on the King, waiting for his reaction.


	8. Chapter 7

Merlin felt himself being pulled roughly through the crowd; he looked up to where Arthur was standing on the balcony. The first time he had arrived at Camelot Merlin had seen someone executed on Uther's orders for the use of magic; he would never had thought back then that he would be leaving Camelot the same way, for the same reasons. He heard Arthur speak down to him, asking for any last words and Merlin knew that he was the only one other than maybe Gwen that heard the regret in the Kings voice.

He kept eye contact with Arthur and made sure his voice was loud enough for him to hear clearly. "I have just one thing to say Sire, just one thing. I told you once that I would serve you as your servant till the day I die but we still haven't done all the things that we are destined to do together. I'm sorry, I am so sorry but I cannot protect you when I am dead my friend." With those words lingering in the air between them Merlin put every effort into a spell that would transport him up to his chambers. He felt a warm light surround him, before the wind began to swirl around his body, engulfing him completely so that now he could no longer see Arthurs shocked face. He felt a sudden tug around his waist pulling him backwards. Merlin blinked once and he found himself stumbling back into his bed which caused him to fall backwards, shaking onto the mattress.

Merlin took a deep breath and stood up; he let his head clear before collecting all his clothes and shoving them into his small backpack along with his book of magic, the small dragon carving his dad had given him, and a blanket. He grabbed the bed roll from the corner of his room and tied it on the top using the straps used to close the bag. He checked it was all secure and then pulled his pale grey cloak around himself. Then he used the spell of invisibility on himself before preparing to transport himself again, but this time it was down to the stables.

Merlin realized almost immediately that his appearance had disturbed the horses, and still invisible did his best to calm them. This not work he checked that there was no-one around to see before becoming visible again and leading his horse out of the stable. He turned them both invisible and got on to ride out of Camelot for the very last time. He clicked his heals and his horse who he had named Will, cantered out of the castle ground and on through the forest to Camelot's border.

~O~O~O~

Arthur stared at the point where Merlin had just dissapeared and he didn't know whether to feel relieved or angry. Every face had moved from the spot where Merlin was no longer standing and onto him hundreds of pairs of eyes all waiting for his comand. The knights did their best at starting to get everyone to go back to their day to day business. To get them to move away and give the King space to think. Following suit Gwen moved slowly forward to put an arm around Arthur's broad shoalders and steering away from the balcony and into the chambers which they shared. She guided him down to sit on the bed where he just sat, Arthur said nothing and Gwen did nothing to coax him to speak either.

Gwen sat down on the chair at Arthus desk, and just as her hsband was she sat in shock of what had just happened. She had known of what was going to happen to Merlin, she had been devistated. She had cried the whole night, not worrying that Arthur could see as she knew he was doing the same, maybe not so she could see but Gwen knew her Arthur was broken up inside. She was glad that Merlin had gone and saved himself and in turn saving Arthur and the rest of them froma terrible loss. The fact was though that now Merlin was gone what next? Arthur was going to be just as devistated, just as hurt now that Merlin was gone, even though his friend wasn't dead on his orders. She knew it was the thought of what the Arthur had almost done to Merlin that would be what would destroy him the most.

Gwen knew she would have to be patient with him but nothing would prepare her for the shadow that would fall, covering the King and his kingdom. Gwen did not know, and niether did Merlin know the reprecusions from Merlin leaving to save Arthur from himself would be just as bad as what would have happened if Melin had actually been executed.

~O~O~O~

Arthur had actually slept that night but it had been a restless one with dreams full of Merlin's parting words, confusing feelings and the thought that he had almost executed his best friend. His dreams were so dark that the shadow stayed with Arthur at the back of his mind wherever he went reminding the young King of what he had almost done. Arthur knew why Merlin had gone, to make himself available to protect the King but also to save him of the guilt of executing his best friend. Despite Merlin's efforts to protect him, the fact that Merlin escaped just reminded Arthur of the truth of his actions and how he had let his anger over rule rational thinking. He hadn't listened to Merlin's explanation and he hated himself for it. There was no excuse for what he had done and Arthur knew that he would have to pay the price of not having Merlin around; and that was a gap that he knew not even Guinevere could fit. He woke that morning to see Guinevere had already left. Arthur saw his breakfast on the large wooden table that sat at the end of the bed, but there had been no Merlin to bang open the door and bring it in unannounced; the thing was Arthur knew it was all his own fault. He scanned the room to see George, the far-too-efficient-servant, standing by the door. He groaned inwardly as he realized that with Merlin gone George would be filling in.

"I see you are awake, Sire. Let me serve you your breakfast and then I can assist you in getting ready for the day." The servant said abruptly, his words pronounced to perfection and articulated to please the King, telling him what he wanted to hear. Not what he needed to hear, which is what Merlin would have done.

"George. I can do it myself today. I need some quiet to think. You are dismissed." He told the servant a little more firmly then how it had originally sounded in his head.

"Yes Sire." The servant replied rather dejectedly before bowing and leaving the room, shutting the door behind him with a soft clunk.

Arthur pulled himself out of bed, and dressed in his training attire along with his chainmail and belt. He knew he needed something to draw him away from his thoughts and training usually did the best job of it. Despite how little he felt like eating he forced down some bread and a little water before leaving to meet his knights on the training field. As he left the room he caught a glance of his own reflection in the mirror, there were the beginnings of shadows under his eyes which were surrounded but the subtle but tell-tale signs that he had been crying; a fact that he wished no one to know. Arthur went to the bowl of water that sat next to his breakfast and splashed his face, trying to rid it of the pink tinge around his eyes. Though his plan hadn't seemed to have worked, he left anyway with his helmet and sword in hand, hoping that no one would notice.

~O~O~O~

Arthur's four knights were waiting down at the training field for their King to arrive so they could begin. None of them had seen Arthur since Merlin's disappearance and they were all worried about how their friend would be. There was a silence that plagued the four men until Sir Percival looked up from tying the laces on his sturdy boots to see Queen Guinevere, and her new personal maid Brooke walking a few paces behind her. The Queen was wearing a velvety red dress that highlighted her figure beautifully; the worried look on her face told them she was there to pre-warn them about Arthur's unsteady demeanor. "Good morning your Majesty, Brooke." He nodded respectively to each before smiling anxiously. "How's Arthur?" He then asked after the other knights greeted the Queen and her maid.

"Please, Percival, call me Gwen. All I've heard since I became Queen has been 'Your Majesty' this 'My Lady' that, I need my friends to call me by my name." She laughed slightly as the all grinned back at her. "Arthur's not good, or from what I saw last night, he hates what he almost made happen." She looked down cast and extremely worried; Brooke's expression mirrored this as she put a comforting hand on the arm of her Queen.

"Has Arthur shown any sign of wanting to send out a search party for him My L…Gwen?" Sir Leon asked.

"No, he hasn't spoken since he left the balcony yesterday. Be careful, I have a feeling he is going to need someone to take his anger out on." Gwen stared around at them all, pleading with them to understand. Gwen watched as all the knights nodded in reply before saying, "Well then, I'll see you after your training. Have fun. Come on Brooke we need to go and talk to Gaius." She turned and with Brooke following behind Gwen walked slowly towards the physicians chambers, leaving the four knights to wait for Arthur.

"I don't know about all of you but I have a feeling that no search party will find Merlin. He won't want to be found and I think will only come back in the event of Camelot being in dire peril." Elyan spoke up, looking round at the other knights.

"Yes but that won't stop Arthur from doing so anyway, he is going to stop at nothing to find him." Sir Leon replied before turning to Gwaine who had beneath closest to Merlin. He hadn't spoken at all since the knight's had met up for training and for Gwaine this was extremely unusual. Even Percival, the usually quiet knight, had spoken more than him. "Come on Gwaine, there has to be something you want to say?"

Gwaine smiled slightly, "Merlin did the right thing in leaving but Arthur, if I know him well enough, will regret his decision. The people of Camelot need to ready themselves for some dark times ahead and I have a feeling that even Merlin with his magic will not be able to help prevent." He sighed, staring around at them all.

Percival looked up, "I agree with Gwaine, Merlin's decision to leave saved Arthur from the guilt of causing his best friend's death and bringing Camelot down that way; but Merlin's absence will still cause a hole in the heart of our King that will be irreversible and will still cause trouble for the Kingdom."

"He's here, remember what Gwen said…" He began but as Arthur drew close enough to speak to them and be heard they all noticed that Gwen was right. "Morning Sire." Elyan said simply.

"Morning all." Arthur replied and they could all tell from his voice the anger and frustration he felt, "Pair off, Percival with Leon and Gwaine with Elyan. We will do interval sword training and rotate on the two minute mark. The extra can box against the training dummy here." Arthur waited until the others had moved into pairs before setting the timer and working all of his frustration and anger at himself into punching the training dummy. Every bit of hatred at himself for what he nearly did to Merlin. Merlin was innocent, the least violent he knew; how could he have sentenced someone so kind to execution. He must be the monster, Arthur thought, the one who could do something like that to someone so good could only be described as a monster.

Arthur was so absorbed in his thoughts and harm in the dummy that he didn't realize that he had missed the timer go off. He just kept punching, not noticing the pain in his fist. He tried to fight back as he felt two strong hands on his shoulders pulling him away from away from the dummy but eventually gave up on that as he sunk to his knees, leaning against the legs of the one who had pulled him back. He could hear voices but didn't hear their words. Arthur felt as two people lifted him up at each shoulder supporting him to walk. His brain told his feet to move in a walking motion and reluctantly they did. He felt stairs under his feet as he walked, thinking they were taking him up to his room he let them. He wanted to curl up in his hatred of himself and let the pain punish him for what he did. He felt the strong arms again lift him of his chainmail and his shirt before he was guided into his bed and was covered in his blankets. He heard the door shut as the knights left him to sleep though Arthur knew that true sleep wouldn't prevail for a very long time.


	9. Chapter 8

Brooke followed Gwen back towards the physician's chambers; she was glad to be going back to see Gaius. The old physician had helped her a lot when she had first come to Camelot as shortly after meeting Merlin – who had done what he could to help her – was arrested and there wasn't much he could do to get her settled in her new home. Brooke smiled slightly as she recognised the narrow staircase the wound its way up to where Gaius lived and worked.

"You are staying with Gaius aren't you?" Gwen asked her maid curiously as she began the climb to the physician's chambers.

"Ye...yeah, he is let...letting me stay until I find a p...proper place to st...stay." Brooke couldn't help but keep the stutter out of her voice. She hadn't spoken in so long that it took her a while to form the words in her mouth. It made her feel like a child learning how to talk but she knew that patience and confidence were the only cures.

"That's good," Gwen smiled back, "I may be able to help with finding you somewhere to stay but I am sure Gaius would be happy for you to stay in Merlins room until he get back..." She trailed off, leaving what they were both thinking, hanging in the air.

' _If he does come back.'_

The possibility of that coming true though wasn't something that either woman wanted to think about. Gwen knocked on the heavy wooden door, "Gaius?" She called pushing open the door enough for them both to enter.

"Ahh...Gwen...how nice it is to see you!" Gaius smiled as the two women walked in, he had become used to the company that Merlin had given him but after he was gone the place seemed oddly quiet and any visitors he would invite in gladly. "You as well Brooke! What can I do for you both?"

"Gaius, it is Arthur. I can't seem to get him to speak; I know why he is like he is. Without Merlin there is an irreparable hole in his heart where he was and he blames himself." Gwen paused for a second and then added as if for an afterthought, "We all feel the loss of Merlin but I fear that Arthur will tear himself apart over this and will not think of the consequences for Camelot. I'm worried about him Gaius and I have no idea what to do!" Gwen sank into a nearby bench; Brooke followed and sat next to her putting a comforting arm around her shoulders. When Gwen didn't shrug it off Brooke took it as a good sign.

"I don't know Gwen; I guess that the best thing to do would be to wait. He will have to come round eventually; Arthur can't stay mad at himself forever." The old man shook his head slightly, "for that would have a drastic effect on Camelot."

Brooke looked up from Gwen's face to Gaius whose expression was that of worry, she was about to say something when Sir Leon crashed through the door a troubled look on his face, "My Lady I am sorry to intrude but it's Arthur, he's gone mad. Gaius I think we will need a sleeping draft for him, so that he can clam down when he sleeps."

"Sir Leon what do you mean, 'gone mad'?" Gwen replied anxiously as she stood up jerking out of Brookes comforting arm. Brooke stayed seated but sent a questioning look to Leon who answered Gwen's question with a slight frown.

"After you left us to train, King Arthur arrived and we paired off for sword work." Sir Leon took a deep breath, "there was nothing unusual about that but with an odd number of knights Arthur opted to fight against the training dummy."

"And..." Gwen led him on her voice shaking slightly. She remembered what had happened to the last dummy that her husband had become angry at.

"It was as if he wanted to kill it, I really think you need to come with me Your Majesty. He broke down, curled up in the middle of the field; he wouldn't stop shaking. We brought him up to his chambers."

"I will be up in a moment I just need to ask Gaius something..."

"Of course Gwen," Leon bowed respectively to his queen, "Gaius, Brooke..." he turned and left shutting the door behind him.

"Gaius...did Merlin give you any warning of what he was going to do? Any indications of where he would go?" She was almost begging for a salvation, there was nothing she could think to do but to get Merlin back. If it was Merlins absence that caused her husband's troubles then they needed Merlin more than ever. Without Merlin...things could only get worse.

"I am sorry Gwen but he didn't say a thing. He gave no indication of any of his plans, he said nothing to me. Did he say something to you Brooke?" If Merlin hadn't told him then there was a possibility that Merlin said something to Brooke, the boy seemed to have trusted her and he must have said something.

"No G...Gaius, I am sorry but he said n...nothing," Brooke frowned slightly, she worried that there would be nothing that they could do to help Arthur without Merlin. She also wanted to talk to him; there was so much she didn't know about that mysterious man. "Is there some...somewhere like home for h...him away fr...from here?"

"Yes, Ealdor, that's where he used to live before his mother sent him here. I don't think he would go there though...or not for that long anyway." The old man's eyebrows creased, he was worried about Merlin as well as Arthur and there wasn't anything that he could do for the boy while he was out alone. Though he has his magic there was no lie in saying that the boy was rather clumsy and accident prone. As for Arthur, he was going through a tough time but he had people around him to help him.

"I guess you're right," Gwen exhaled a long breath, "I need to go see Arthur, you could maybe bring him a sleeping draught Gaius? I know he didn't sleep all night and I am sure it would take his mind off it all." There was unmistakeable concern laced through her voice as she asked,

"Of course My Lady." He replied with a slight nod of the head, "May I borrow Brooke though? I will need help with a few things that Merlin used to do." He asked making any excuse to have Brooke stay. There was something he needed to speak to her about.

Brooke looked up at this, she had been very quiet the whole time Leon was there and wondered what on earth he might want. The maid turned to her Queen waiting for the answer.

"Of course...if you were fine with it that is, Brooke?" She turns to her maid with a warm smile on her face which she saw Brooke return with an equally warm smile though it was still a little shy.

"Of...of course I w...will if you n...need me Gaius," Brooke smiled at Gwen, "You can call for me if you ne...need anything My L...lady, but I w...will go over to your ch...chambers when I am do...done." Brooke gave Gwen a small curtsey as the Queen left before turning to Gaius who was working at the wobbly looking wooden bench that was piled high with scientific equipment and books but somehow the old physician was still able to work.

"I need you to do something for me." Gaius stopped stirring the mixture and took the tube off the heat. "I need you to visit the Great Dragon..."

Brooke eyes grew wide as she replied incredulously "The Great Dragon!"

"Yes...take Merlin's navy blue travelling cloak and follow me." Gaius replied as he poured the creamy coloured sleeping draught into a small glass bottle and walked to the door with Brooke following close behind. "Now here's what I need you to say..."

~O~O~O~

Gwen sat next gingerly on the edge of the bed where her husband was lying; she rested a calming hand on his firm shoulder. It jerked slightly under her touch but didn't move her hand right off. "Arthur?" she asked tentatively

"Guinevere." Came the simple but slightly muffled rely.

"You can't completely blame yourself for this. It's not all your fault." Gwen sighed, she knew that it was Arthur who had driven Merlin away and some ways it was Arthur who caused himself the pain and suffering; but he had all the people he loved around him and Merlin didn't. Merlin got the sharp end of the stick and there was nothing that they could do about it but Arthur feeling guilty about it wouldn't bring Merlin back and nor would it do Arthur any good to dwell on things. Gwen was about to speak but she saw Gaius walk in holding a small glass bottle. She looked behind him for the blonde haired servant but no one followed him into the room. Gwen rose from the bed before saying, "Thank you Gaius...where's Brooke?" She gave him a thankful smile as she took the small bottle and brought it over to Arthur.

"No problem My Lady. I had to send Brooke to get some herbs for me; it will take her quite a while to get them for me so she will probably getting back quite late this afternoon. I am sure that you will be able to ask another servant to assist you this afternoon."

"That is perfectly fine Gaius..." Gwen replied after giving the sleeping draught to Arthur, who was now asleep. The King was muttering a little but that was to be expected with the induced sleep his was in. "I will stay with him but I am sure I will see you later Gaius." Gwen smiled at him as he bowed and left the room in a comfortable silence. Gwen sat in Arthur's usual chair and picked the sewing she had been doing off the table. She watched over her husband in his time of need and waited for him to wake.


	10. Chapter 9

Brooke led the dapple grey horse out of the stable. The horse, whose name she had learned was Shelby, seemed rather placid and even happy to go out for a ride so late in the afternoon. Brooke stroked the young horse's soft grey mane as she walked towards the gate, then as she was about to mount she heard a gruff voice behind her.

"Where are you going with that horse?"

Brooke turned to see Sir Leon standing there; he didn't look angry, just curious and a little quizzical. "Sir Leon," she nodded respectfully at him. "G…Gaius sent me to get so…some herbs. He said I would be able to b…borrow a h…horse if I talked to the st…stable hand." She smiled at him, hoping he would understand and not ask any more questions. She watched the tall mans hazel eyes carefully waiting for his answer.

"Oh hello, Brooke wasn't it?" He waited for a nod of reply before saying, "That's perfectly fine. Have a good day Brooke." He smiled back at her.

"Thank you Sir Leon." She nodded to him with a smile before pulling the midnight blue traveling cloak around her and fastening it at her chin. Brooke then mounded the horse and pulled the hood up over her head, Shelby reacted straight away to the nudge of her heels and galloped out of the gates towards the woods.

As Brooke rode the horse out of the citadel and into the lower town her thoughts drifted to what she remembered of her life before her parents died and she was sold into the business of serving different royal families before they sold her on to someone else. As she watched the towns folk go about their lives trading goods and wandering about the towns she saw a life that she remembered very well. Though she had only been 11 when her parents had died she remembered her life in the little village where she had lived though she didn't remember its name or the names of any of the people who had lived there. She would love to be able to find it again, and maybe she would but Brooke knew she would have to wait quite a while for that to happen.

Brooke urged Shelby to go faster, riding through the forest at an exhilarating rate, her midnight blue coat billowing out behind her. She let a laugh rip from her chest the feeling of moving at that speed exiting and giving her a feeling of freedom she rarely felt being usually trapped in her own mind and not able to talk to anyone. Things were changing now though, and Brooke knew it; her new friends would help her to learn and grow as a person. As, Shelby broke through the trees of the forest and cantered into the open field Brooke felt the warm sunlight on her face and knew that somehow Merlin bringing her to Camelot was the best thing to happen to her in her life so far and she didn't regret it one bit.

Pulling herself out of her thoughts, Brooke stared around at the field of corn, the path she was following was easy enough to make out but judging by the amount of time she had been riding she should be coming to another forest. Knowing that she couldn't be exactly sure of the time that had passed she kept going without worry and eventually entered another forest. This was much denser and darker than the last one despite the light of the day. Brooke guided the horse to a trot, the slower speed much more manageable one the fading path. Eventually the dense forest opened up to a clearing, the circular patch of grass was perfectly clear of trees or shrubs and was huge. She dismounted Shelby who she tired up to a tree before walking forward into the open. Remembering what Gaius had said Brooke closed her eyes and holding the pendant in her hands she began to yell at the top of her voice the words that Merlin had told Gaius incase he ever needed to call the Dragon Gaius had then in turn taught them to her.

"O drakon, e male so ftengometta tesd'hup'anankes!" (1) She called up to the sky before calling in English, "Dragon! I, friend of the last Dragonlord, ask you to please come to me now in my time of need. Please help me." Brooke stared up at the bright blue sky and sucked in a deep breath as she waited for the dragon. She was nervous, more nervous than she had ever been in her life but not knowing what to expect was a feeling she was used to. What she didn't expect was for the Dragon – who when he first landed on the ground in front of her he caused it to shake violently and fro Brooke to stumble to the ground – speak in these ridiculous riddles that made her job even more difficult. The old dragon chuckled lightly as he watched Brooke fall to the ground but stopped abruptly when the blonde haired servant stood up defiantly, brushing herself off with a frustrated glare plaguing her features.

"What do you want young warlock?" The huge dragon asked, staring down at her with unblinking eyes. Kilgarrah watched Brooke's reaction carefully as she realised the true nature of her gifts. He knew the true reason for her birth, Brookes destiny was tied with the young dragonlord's. Merlin's destiny was to protect King Arthur and to help him unite the lands of Albion; Brooke was to shadow the young warlock, to do what she could to make sure Merlin could finish his job. The young woman would have to make the ultimate sacrifice, Kilgarrah did not know when that would be or how it would but it was foretold that it would and who was Kilgarrah to prevent destiny.

"Warlock? I thought Merlin was one of the last...they're ext...extremely rare. How can I be one when I am nobody? A mere serving girl?" Brooke stared up at the dragon through her dark brown eyes, it was impossible that she was a warlock. For one she knew her powers to come instinctually. She had never been able to call her magic like Merlin could and when her magic did present itself it did so in such strange ways. She wasn't able to control it and that scared Brooke to her core.

Kilgarrah chuckled darkly, "Merlin said a similar thing when I told him of the power he held; oh yes they are very rare but both of you are one of a kind in your own ways. You are yet to discover the power that you have been gifted with and you need Merlin to help you get there. Your destiny is tied to his in a way you could never imagine. You both will need to discover that together. There is no other way. It cannot be told; it has to be experienced." The old dragon let those words hover between them for a moment before saying, "Now I ask again, young warlock, what is it that you wanted?"

"Merlin. I need to find Merlin, I g...gather you know of what happened when he revealed his magic to King Arthur?"

"I do..." He said gruffly, sounding almost disappointed in Arthur.

"Arthur has gone into a...a sort of mad stupor, we think that Merlin is our only hope of fixing it as it is Merlins absence that has caused the King to act like this. I need to find him and ask him to come back before it is too late." She said before asking, "Do you have any idea where he is?" Brooke hoped with all her heart that he knew, as not only did she need to find Merlin to help Arthur but she also wanted to find him to talk to him. So he could teach her what he knew, if he was part of her destiny, (whatever that was to be she did not yet know) then she needed to find him. As she waited Brooke realised something which made her insides feel warm; her stutter had gone. That long speech had been free of falters and she was glad that her speech pattern was finally, back to normal. Brooke's curiosity got the better of her as she asked, "oh and one last thing...what am I destined to do?"

"I do know where Merlin is. I can show your horse the way. As for your destiny I can tell you nothing as I know nothing to that extent. All I know is that Merlin needs you more than he thinks, time will tell how much of it he'll realise before it's too late."

"Thank you but you seem to have left me with more questions! Please I need to know more; what do you mean 'he needs me more than he thinks'? Kilgarrah please!" Brooke begged, still feeling so confused as to what her destiny was for.

"That, I cannot tell you young warlock. You and Merlin need to discover that together. Here, I will give your horse the guidance to find Merlin." The Great Dragon took a deep breath and breathed a creamy sparkling light down onto Shelby's head which then absorbed the magical substance until the air around them was clear once more. The horse whinnied loudly as the large dragon pulled back his head to stare back at Brooke. "I must go now young warlock, I can hear the younger dragon, Aithusa calling me...farewell." Kilgarrah then took off from the ground with a beat of his huge wings; the large dragons shadow covered the clearing as he flew in front of the sun before he disappeared into the distance.

"Kilgarrah! Wait! There is still so much you can tell me!" Brooke's yell faded away into the air but her curiosity definitely didn't. Brooke quickly mounted her horse and with a nudge from his rider's knee's Shelby galloped out of the clearing and into the forest in the direction that the dragon had placed in his mind.

~O~O~O~

Merlin had set up a small camp in a cave not far from the forest that bordered the lands of Camelot. With nothing in his possession that related him to his former home Merlin had nothing to worry about while staying in the foreign kingdom. Even if someone did find the cave, to the outside world it looked completely empty; the young warlock, with the help of the book of magic that Gaius had given him had disguised the cave and its surroundings with a spell that hid all occupants of the area. From the outside it was an empty cave, no one could see what was in it, hear what was being said or in any way enter the cave unless Merlin brought time in himself. It was a handy trick as he didn't want people from the kingdom he had taken refuge in finding him, and no matter how much he wanted to see them it was better if he didn't see anyone from Camelot either. He knew Arthur would have sent patrols out to find him by now; to re-execute him or to apologise he didn't know.

It was for this reason that Merlin was extremely surprised to look up from practising a healing spell to see a pretty, blonde haired woman riding a dapple grey horse towards him. He instantly recognised her as Brooke, his shock at seeing anyone – especially Brooke – so close to the place he had taken refuge rendered him immobile for a few moments before he jumped up from his place on the floor and stepped out of the protective bubble he had made. The shocked look on Brooke's pale skinned face at seeing Merlin seemingly appear out of nowhere made him smile slightly before he walked over to her horse and lifted her down. "Brooke!" He smiled warmly, "How on earth did you find me! What are you even doing here?" He led her and the horse within the protected bubble while he listened to Brooke's story. They tied up Brooke's horse with Will (the horse he had brought with him) and sat next to the fire Merlin had conjured with a few muttered words.

"So you called the dragon? Did Gaius tell you what I had told him?" Merlin asked before adding, "How is Gaius?" The young man worried about his mentor, hoping that Arthur hadn't become too angry at him for harbouring a sorcerer for all this time. He pulled a hand through his messy jet black hair, staring into Brooke's dark brown eyes, hoping that her answer would give a positive outcome.

"Gaius is fine, he misses you a lot though, but then again we all do. Yes, Gaius was the one who asked me to go to the dragon; we had no idea where you were! We need you to come back. Arthur...Arthur has retreated into himself, he doesn't speak. He hates himself for what he has done to you and how he treated you in regards to your powers. He needs you back with him." Brooke's voice became slightly panicked as she carried on, "Poor Gwen has done all she can but if Arthur carries on like this then Camelot will fall deeper than ever before. Arthur can't run a kingdom like this and Gwen, well she is doing her best with the knights to support her but there is only so much they can do without Arthur." Brooke stared into Merlins cobalt blue eyes, his sadness and regret prominent in the turn of his mouth and the unnatural shine of his eyes.

"It wasn't meant to end up like this, I would much rather for him to keep on hating me than for him to regret his decision and feel the guilt of the situation. Not being with him but being alive was meant to leave his conscience clear; my death, I thought would have been much worse for my friend." Sadness laced the young man's words, the realisation that his sacrifice had done nothing for the King. Merlin wished there was something he could have done earlier to make Arthur believe him when he said he was sorry. Merlin knew he should be angry at the king's reaction but knowing he was in the wrong stopped those feelings coming through.

"Merlin I know you didn't leave Camelot to teach him a lesson but to save him from himself. I know that this was meant to help him not cut him down but something went wrong and now he needs you more than ever! Merlin you need to come back before it's too late and Camelot breaks completely." A tear rolled down Brooke's cheek at the sight of Merlin's pained face but she wiped it off quickly, trying with all her might to keep it together.

Merlin's voice sounded choked as he said the next few words on his mind, "I can't go back though, it's too early and I know this sounds so cruel but he needs to truly realise the consequences of his actions before I can return. If I come back to early I will remind him of what he did and I won't be able to help him. I need to wait until Camelot is in danger of getting destroyed and save it like I have many times before. It is then that Arthur will forgive me and realise the good that magic can do; it is then that he will truly accept me for who I am. I have no idea what will happen to Camelot and whether I will come out the other side of this battle with my life but whatever happens I trust you to know when it is right for me to come and come and get me."

"Please Merlin...Arthur needs you more than ever now."

"Brooke you know I can't come back and you can't tell anyone you saw me either; you can tell Gaius but no one else. The same for my whereabouts, you need to keep that a secret."

Brooke ignored the internal battle going on in her head before saying, "Of course, I will keep your secret. You know I will." Brooke took a deep breath, "There is something though that Kilgarrah told me that I didn't tell you till now. I don't really know how to explain it but..."

Merlin's curiosity got the better of him (like it usually did) as he asked, "What is it?" He stared unblinkingly into Brooke's dark brown eyes and he could see the thought going into his words she was about to say. Merlin could see the uncertainty she had about the subject but he also knew that Brooke could learn to understand whatever it was she needed to tell him.

"Merlin...I'm a warlock."

Nothing had prepared him for what she did tell him, the words she had said shocked him and made him feel happy and worried at the same time. There was always a chance that she could turn out like Morgana if he didn't give him the guidance that she needed to take the right path with her magic; but he wasn't there. He was stuck on the outskirts of Camelot, exiled, with n hope to be able to help her. Merlin could see the pleading look in her eyes as she stared at him, willing him to not turn against her. "Brooke I...I don't know what to say." He replied before the unspeakable happened; he began to laugh with joy at having another with magic that he could call a friend. The tears of happiness leaked from the young warlock's eyes as he saw the jubilant look on his friends face.

Brooke heard the laugh and knew he was not laughing at her, the joy in that laugh brought tears of delight to her own eyes as she laughed with him. She waited until their laughs died down to a quiet panting before she spoke again, "...but Merlin what do I do? I don't know how to control it, my power comes through at some of the strangest moments and I haven't been able to stop it."

Somehow during their joyous moment Brooke had moved and was now sitting leaning against his shoulder, their heads resting against each other. Merlin slipped his hand into hers as he said, "You will learn to control it; it took me a while before I could truly control it and master it to my needs but I got there eventually. I will help you to do it but I don't really know how to teach it. You will also have to wait until I get back but you can tell Gaius and he will be able to help you the best he can like he taught me."

"Thank you Merlin, you have no idea how much this means to me." She sighed before saying, "There was something else, something much bigger that the dragon said; something that I have no idea how to begin to understand because Kilgarrah insisted in speaking in riddles."

"Something else?" Merlin asked incredulously, his hand still entwined with hers.

"Kilgarrah said I had a destiny; a destiny that is tied to you and your own destiny. He said he didn't know what it was or why but that we would need to discover it ourselves." Brooke waited for Merlin to reply with baited breath.

"Well then Brooke, I think we seem to have more in common than we originally thought. A dragon that speaks in riddles, power of magic and a destiny that ties us together in ways we still don't know. I will help you to learn the ways of your destiny and in turn I imagine you will learn the true extent of your powers."

"Merlin you have no idea how happy I am to have you help me with all this, it means a great deal that you care enough to help me." Brooke replied sincerely, giving Merlin's hand a light squeeze.

"It's my pleasure Brooke; I imagine you would need to be getting back now as you probably used the excuse of going to pick herbs for Gaius to get yourself out of Camelot for the day."

"You imagined correct, I assume you used the same all those times you needed to leave contribute to the saving of Camelot with the aid of magic?" Brooke grinned slightly waiting for the reply to come.

"No actually, every time I asked Gaius to cover for me he would say I was at the tavern. Arthur now thinks I have a severe tendency for alcohol like Sir Gwaine." There was a pause before the two were laughing again and they needed to wait before they could speak again.

"I really must go now Merlin, and trust me I will be back!" She laughed as Merlin stood up pulling her with him, still holding hands they walked over to where they had tied the horses. Merlin folded Brooke into a hug before helping her up onto her dapple grey horse and leading it out of the stable.

"I will see you next time then Brooke!" He smiled widely at her as she waved goodbye and rode the horse away into the forest. As soon as Brooke was gone Merlins face fell, he didn't know how long he would have to wait to see her again and he definitely wanted it to be soon. Little did he know that the next time Merlin would see her she would come bearing bad news and another plea for help.

~O~O~O~

When Brooke finally arrived back at Camelot she went straight to Gaius and explained everything that happened to the old physician. The conversation was long and many questions were asked that weren't only Gaius's but Gaius asked the question that Brooke had been thinking about since she found out about her destiny. "How could Brooke for fill her destiny if she did not know what she needed to do? They left that question unanswered as Brooke needed to go to attend to Gwen. That night when Brooke went to sleep in Merlin's room she had another dream; this one even worse than the last.

_Brooke was running, running as fast as she could go. The shadow wasn't only chasing her it was chasing everything and everyone; covering Camelot like a dark blanket. No matter how fast she ran it was never fast enough, Brooke knew she had to find Merlin so he could help but it was too late. She had left it too late, the signs were so strong but she hadn't gone to Merlin early enough and the destruction was all her fault. Brooke could feel the panic growing as she continued to run and not actually get anywhere. The shadow creeping up on her she could see Gwen, Gaius and all the knights running as well with the same look of fear and confusion on their faces. The helpless feeling came back again, when she realized that Arthur wasn't there, why wasn't Arthur running from the shadow. Then the shadow caught up with them. Brooke heard the screams from the others before her own screams filled her ears; then her insides went cold and she felt empty._


	11. Chapter 10

_Brooke was running, running as fast as she could go. The shadow wasn't only chasing her it was chasing everything and everyone; covering Camelot like a dark blanket. No matter how fast she ran it was never fast enough, Brooke knew she had to find Merlin so he could help but it was too late. She had left it too late, the signs were so strong but she hadn't gone to Merlin early enough and the destruction was all her fault. Brooke could feel the panic growing as she continued to run and not actually get anywhere. The shadow creeping up on her she could see Gwen, Gaius and all the knights running as well with the same look of fear and confusion on their faces. The helpless feeling came back again, when she realized that Arthur wasn't there, why wasn't Arthur running from the shadow. Then the shadow caught up with them. Brooke heard the screams from the others before her own screams filled her ears; then her insides went cold and she felt empty._

Brooke sat straight up in bed, her eyes were wide and her breaths came in sharp pants. The unfamiliar warmth behind her eyes was disconcerting but recognisable. She'd had another dream, a dream like the one of Merlin's execution. She needed to tell someone. See if they could work out what it was so they could prevent it from happening, whatever  _it_  was. The shadow had been so dark, so real and not only that but Arthur had seemed to be at the center of it. He hadn't been running like the rest of them. Had he been the cause of it? Brooke wished she could say it was only a dream but when her dreams were so vivid she knew that there would be tough times ahead. Brooke was so worried but at that point in time she could say nothing; the maid had to attend to Gwen, her mistress. Brooke dressed and pulled her hair back into a loose plait before heading off, past the sleeping Gaius, and then through to the corridors of Camelot. After she had collected the breakfasts of both the King and the queen, the walk to the King and Queens's chambers was quick but when she got there she wasn't prepared for the mess that would be waiting within the room.

Brooke knock and when she heard Gwen's reply, Brooke entered , "Good morning Your Majesty's;" Brooke closed the door quietly and walked over to the table and placed down the tray of food before looking up to observe the room; Gwen was slumped in the chair at the large wooden table, her head resting comfortably in her arms. In her hand was a piece of material that she had been embroidering, the needle resting loosely in her hand. As Brooke moved forward to gently ease the sewing from her hand, the maid noticed the state of the bed. The sleeping draught had apparently done some good but the once perfectly made bed was now a bundle of twisted sheets and blankets. Arthur must have had some nightmares again and been thrashing around the whole night.

Brooke woke the sleeping Queen first, and as she shook Gwen shoulders slightly to wake her, the queen mumbled in her sleep, "Ar…thur…"

"My lady? You need to wake up; it's a new day…Gwen."

"Brooke?" Gwen yawned slightly, rolling the stiff feeling out of her shoulders. As soon as her mind focused her eyes immediately flicked to where Arthur was lying amongst the twist of pillows and blankets. "Arthur!" Gwen jumped up and ran to the bed,

"Is there anything else I can do?" Brooke asked cautiously, watching the tender look on Gwen's face as she stared down at Arthur asleep on the bed.

"No that would be all thank you Brooke," Gwen smiled up at the maid as she curtseyed and left the room. Gwen waited until Brooke had closed the door before saying to Arthur, "It's time to wake up Arthur…" She shook his shoulder slightly and waited for a response.

"Go away Merlin; just let me have five more minutes!" Came Arthur's grunt of a reply.

Gwen was shocked at Arthurs reply and she shook his shoulder again, "Arthur, it's Gwen, you're wife, please wake up!" She waited again and was relieved when he spoke again, this time in a much warmer tone.

"Sorry Guinevere, I was a little confused there," Arthur grinned lopsidedly staring into his wife's chocolate brown eyes. The moment of warmth and sentiment was short lived though as he remembered why he had just woken up from such a strong sleep and why he could feel tear tracks on his cheeks. Why he felt so lost…so hurt. Once he had pulled himself out of bed it didn't take the King long to get dressed, the cloths he was going to wear that day had already been folded at the end of the bed for him to dress in. As Gwen was already dressed and washed she ate the breakfast that Brooke had brought up to her as she waited.

Finally Arthur stepped out from behind the dressing screen, dressed in the white tunic that Gwen liked so much, "Are you ready now Arthur? Feeling a bit better?" Gwen had a concerned look on her face, feeling a little worried that maybe she had asked too much.

"One last thing," Arthur replied before pulling her into a warm embrace and placing his lips on hers, he pulled away from the kiss a warm smile on his face, "…now I'm ready." Arthur took Gwen's hand, "Come on, I need to organize a search for the sorcerer." Arthur couldn't bring himself to consciously say his former servant's name; the pain and the self blame associated with it were too much.

As Gwen followed him out she knew the searches would result in nothing but also knew it was better for Arthur to be doing something about his predicament rather than wallowing in self blame. The fact that Merlin probably wouldn't be back until Camelot or Arthur was in mortal danger meant that there was no way that any patrol would be able to find him. But would that prove to be too late? Arthur would suffer so much in his own hands if he didn't find Merlin soon, he would think that he had driven him away forever, that there was nothing that he could do to bring him back. Was that true though? Would Merlin blame Arthur entirely for the whole fiasco? That didn't sound like Merlin though, self sacrificing Merlin who would do anything as long as his friends stayed safe and survived. Merlin wouldn't blame Arthur, she was sure of it but Arthur did. He hated himself for what he had done to Merlin. It worried Gwen that it all may become too much, that eventually, just sending out patrols wouldn't be enough.

~O~O~O~

Brooke walked as fast as she could back towards the physician's chambers, eventually she came to the narrow stairs up to where she could find Gaius. She needed to tell him about the dream she'd had. Gaius knew about the fact that she was a warlock but she hadn't told him about what happened with her dreams. The dreams that told her the future, well not the exact events that would occur; sometimes it was just an image or a scene or just a feeling but she always knew when it was one of those dreams. The feeling she got behind her eyes, the tingling warmth that she could now associate with her magic. The young maid ran up the stairs two at a time, eager to talk to someone about what had happened. "Gaius!" Brooke called as she knocked on the door, "Can I come in?"

"Of course my dear, why ever not?" The old man replied well naturedly.

Brooked pushed open the door, and letting it swing shut behind her she went over and joined Gaius at the small wooden table where he was eating his breakfast. "I need to talk to you about something…" She said, her words almost indicating that she was asking permission to speak.

"Fire away Brooke, what is it you need to talk to me about?" Gaius frowned slightly out of habit, waiting for the young woman sitting in front of him to speak.

Brooke nodded before saying, "I had a dream last night, not a normal dream though. It was like a vision, showing me what was to come…I felt the tingling warmth behind my eyes, like I'm using magic."

"What happened in your dream?" Came the curious reply, the old man leant forward in his chair.

So Brooke explained, "It was strange, we were running, all of us running from this shadow. Everything behind was so dark, so cold. Neither Arthur nor Merlin were there running with us, something told me that it was Arthur that had been the cause of it. But then it caught up with us and it was the most painful cold that I have ever experienced. I could hear screaming behind me and then I woke up."

"I wonder what it means, if it was literally the future or if it was just the essence or hinting at what will happen. Has this happened before?" The physician asked

"Yes, loads of times. The most recent before this one though was the night before Arthur had made his judgment on Merlin's fate. I saw him get executed; he died though in that dream. He didn't escape, so I think that my dreams show what could be. It depends on peoples actions whether they come to be true."

"So, you are a seer then?" Gaius enquired, his eyebrows still creased slightly into a frown. "I think you may be right, I just hope that whatever happens with Arthur, that it won't get as bad as that."

"I assume so…" Brooke trailed off waiting for Gaius to say something else; his knowledge on the subject was much greater than hers.

"Someone else used to live here who had the power of a seer, she's long gone now. We haven't seen her since the battle but her dreams were the same as yours. Not always true to even but hinting at them."

"What happened to her?"

"We don't know, we searched for her after the battle but couldn't find her. Morgana, her name was. She had been so good but without the right guidance regarding her powers she turned her magic towards evil. It's been over a year now since we last saw her. Most think she's dead, I don't believe it though, I think she's just biding her time; waiting for the right time to strike." Gaius sighed, "I am telling you this Brooke because I would hate for you to turn out like that. You are a warlock and a seer but you are new to your powers and just learning how to master them. You need to know that without Merlin here to guide you, I am the next best person to ask for help. I managed, somehow, to guide Merlin in the right direction. I hope I can do the same for you."

"Thank you Gaius, you have no idea how much that means to me." Brooke smiled warmly at the old physician.

Gaius smiled back, the lines on his face showing he did almost truly understand, "If you have nothing to do Brooke, do you want to accompany me o n my rounds around the castle? I have some medicine to deliver and I will probably need a little help carrying it all."

"Of course I would," Brooke replied, "Gwen will know where to find me if she needs me." So they both then stood and Gaius went to collect his things. Brooke stared at the array of different coloured liquids I awe. This was definitely going to be extremely interesting.

~O~O~O~

Miles away on Camelot's boarder, Merlin was riding out to the clearing. He needed to talk with the dragon about Brooke; he needed to know what he knew of the extent of her powers and what he could do to help her. Finally when he arrived, he dismounted Will and tied the chocolate coloured horse to a tree. Merlin turned to face the overcast skies before yelling, "O drakon, e male so ftengometta tesd'hup'anankes!" His voice was deep and almost unrecognisable as he spoke in the dragon language but the words rolled as easily off his tongue as English did and he wouldn't want it to be any other way. Suddenly from behind the clouds two small dragon like figures came into view, as they drew closer Merlin could see that one was smaller than the other and a pearly white colour; Aithusa.

"Aithusa!" Merlin called in glee as the small white dragon landed in front of him with a resounding thump. Kilgarrah landed behind the small dragon, huge in comparison to the younger one in front of him. "It's been so long! You've grown!" Indeed he had, the hatchling he had last seen in this clearing had now grown to be nearly as tall as Merlin when it sat back on its hind legs.

"Father!" The young dragon called, his voice sounded like that of a child's but there was still the hint of the dragon in the tone.

Merlin smiled at him, before turning to the larger dragon, "Hello Kilgarrah...I needed to ask you something about Brooke."

"Ahh...I was wondering when you would come asking about her, young warlock. Her powers are quite fascinating are they not?" The dragon stared unblinkingly down at Merlin.

"Well, yes..." Merlin frowned, "but you said it was rare – very rare – for someone to be born with magic. For the two of us to meet at a time like we did..." He trailed off not really knowing how to word his question.

"Yes young warlock?"

His eyes widened when realisation hit him and he replied, "Is Brooke the girl you told me about when I first met you? When you first told me about my destiny?" Merlin waited with baited breath.

"She is." The Dragon replied simply.

"So her destiny is tied to mine? But then...is she the girl who died at the banquet? How did she get there, if she is in this time? It doesn't make sense..."

"All in good time young warlock; all in good time you will understand." The old dragon's mouth formed something of a grimace, "...but know this, young warlock, the path Brooke takes with her power is entirely in your hands. There is a chance she could follow in the Witches footsteps, if you do not lead her through yours instead."

"Morgana?" Merlin hadn't said that name since the battle that had brought Arthur Excalibur and a Queen but also the death of Morgana as well. Not that Merlin believed she was truly dead but they had not heard from her in over a year. "Surely she is gone? We haven't seen hide or hair of her since the last battle."

"I wouldn't be so sure, young warlock." The Great Dragon replied, chuckling slightly at the grimace that had flashed on Merlins face.

"I can't let that happen to Brooke, I imagine the havoc she could create if her power is anything close to mine. What can I do though if I am stuck out here?"

"That is all I can say young warlock but be warned: there are testing times to come, not only for you, but also for all those you hold dear. I am sure to be seeing you soon."

"Kilgarrah, please, there has to be something else?"

"There is nothing else I can say on the matter; come on Aithusa we have a long flight back to where we need to get to tonight."

"Okay then, goodbye Kilgarrah, Aithusa." He grinned at the young dragon.

"Farewell Merlin."

"Goodbye father." Aithusa called before taking off after Kilgarrah into the clouds.

It was then that for the first time since Merlin had first heard the voice of Kilgarrah in his head, Merlin heard another voice; Aithusa. Though still sounding young there was the unmistakeable sound of the authority and power of a dragon in the voice that echoed through his head. He said only one line  _'Don't worry father; I will watch over her.'_


	12. Chapter 11

Arthur's most trusted knights gathered in the great hall for the meet that had recently been called. Sir's Percival, Gwaine, Elyan and Leon were sitting at the long dark wood table along with the other knights who were still in training. The large wooden doors banged open and all heads turned towards the noise. In walked Arthur, it only took the king a small number of long, determined strides to reach the head of the table with Gwen following close behind. The serious look on their King's face told all the knights that he meant business and that there was something very important that Arthur needed to do.

Arthur took a deep breath before he spoke; he wanted the words to come out right and to not end up a jumble. It had been a very long time since the King had talked about the case of the banished sorcerer and he wanted him back; Arthur had found it hard to even think of his name let alone say it since the time on the balcony when the sorcerer had disappeared. The guilt that was the result of the situation and Arthur knew he would do a better job of finding him if Arthur was in his right mind. "My knights; a couple of days ago a member of our staff was revealed as a sorcerer. As you will all remember he was sentenced to death for his crimes but then he later escaped from our guard and we have not seen him since." Arthur stopped for a moment before continuing staring around at the collective nod that came from the knights in front of him.

Arthur was about to continue speaking but then he paused as he thought of something; he could not show his guilt to the knights, over what he had done to the sorcerer. He couldn't ask them to search for a known sorcerer when magic is outlawed unless to continue his punishment and execute him again. He would have to lie about his reasons for wanting him back in Camelot. Maybe his more loyal knights, his friends, would know the real reason but there was nothing he could do so openly. "I would like to send out a search party for him, just a few knights in strategic areas around Camelot's land to ensure that he is found and punished for his crimes." He then added, "I do not want to punish him straight away as I would like to talk to him and hear his side of the story but he is surely going to be punished under the law."

"When would you like us to leave sire?" Sir Leon spoke up, choosing to ignore the harsh manor that Arthur had used to speak of Merlin.

"As soon as possible, I gather you can organise them into suitable groups?"

"Yes, my lord, is there anything else?"

"No there is nothing, thank you Sir Leon. You are all dismissed to follow Sir Leon's instructions. Thank you." Arthur left the room at the same fast pace that he had entered it at. Gwen followed behind and smiled gratefully at the knights before leaving the room closing the large wooden doors behind her.

~O~O~O~

Brooke stood at the window of the chambers she now shared with Gaius. The window was small and rather high up but perched on the low table by the wall meant that she could see out over the whole of Camelot. Merlin was out there somewhere; she guessed he would have moved on from where he was last time she was there so there was no use in trying to look for a small sign of recognition of where he was. Also Brooke guessed Merlin was on Camelot's border so wherever along it he was the place would be much too far away to be seen by the human eye.

Brooke did notice something though as she stared out over the kingdom; some of the fields closest to the kingdom were beginning to fall dry. Most of the surrounding land was as green as green could be in spring but there were some areas of land that seemed to be drying out. The ground in these places was browning and there were scarcely any plants or animal life that she could see. Brooke had no certain idea what caused it but she had a hunch that it was because of Arthur's slow spiral down into the depths of something close to depression that would be causing it. Her gaze was drawn into the courtyard by a flash the bright red of the Camelot knight's capes.  _The knights must be going out on a patrol to find Merlin or at least to find any signs of him._ She thought;  _not that they will find anything._  As the last bright red cape billowed out of view she turned her head to the sky. The clouds were slowly pushing their way over the castle; a sheet of grey covering the blue of the sky. Brooke could tell there was a storm coming, she could smell it in the air and she thought _we had better be ready when she hit's._

~O~O~O~

"So what do you think of Merlin then?" Gwaine blurted, yet again flicking his mss of waving brown hair out of his eyes, "Who would have thought someone so clumsy could have the power of magic." The knight guffawed slightly, looking round to Percival who had been paired with him for the patrol. Gwaine had no idea why he and Percival were always paired together for patrols; Percival knew it was because he was the only one who had the patience to cope with Gwaine's inane chatter.

"To be honest Gwaine I could tell there was something strange with him." Percival paused for a moment, "Not that it's a bad thing." He added quietly before they lapsed into a another comfortable silence.

It was mere moments though before Gwaine spoke again, "If we find him we are going to let him go right?" He pondered, "I mean," a slight swagger entered his tone, "Merlin is probably one of the most harmless people I know; even with magic and I know that Arthur says he will execute him eventually, but I honestly don't think he will."

"He nearly has before." Percival pointed out.

"Yes, and look where that got him. He is breaking slowly and we can't do anything; Gwen's tried to help him and nothings worked. I don't think Arthur will try it again but he won't be able to get better until Merlin is brought home; there is no telling what Arthur will do so I think we leave Merlin where he is if we find him. He will know when the right time to come back is."

"Maybe you're right..." Percival began be then was cut off by his own train of thought. He had noticed a pattern in the fields they were passing through. They were still relatively close to Camelot and the land near there was usually lash and green but some patches of the field were dried over and had very little growing in it. "This is odd." He jumped down off his horse and went over to kneel at the patch of ground.

"What sorry?" Gwaine said, following suit as he kneeled next to Percival.

"It's the middle spring, yet this land is as dry as bone. Even in summer the land never get's this dry."

"Strange," Gwaine took up a pinch of the dusty dirt in his fingers and let it flow back onto the ground, "Could it be magic maybe? I know this would be very out of character for Merlin but anger can do strange things to people. Do you think maybe this is Merlin creating a punishment for Arthur?" The usually joking knight was solemn as he posed the question with Percival.

"No I don't think this is Merlin. I think this may be Arthur. This is the beginning of the fall for Camelot. The beginning of where our king's feelings and thought's reflect in the welfare of the kingdom."

"So you are saying you think this will get worse?" Gwaine asked.

"Yes that is exactly what I think." Percival sighed, remounting his horse and waited for Gwaine to do so as well before saying "Come on, we need to get back to Camelot. Arthur needs to know what we have found."

~O~O~O~

King Arthur stood before his knights who were relating back to him what they had seen. None had seen any sign of Merlin but they had all witnessed the devastation that was wrecking the fields surrounding Camelot. Arthur was not surprised that they didn't find the sorcerer but the drying out of the land was a complete mystery to him. As he dismissed them all Arthur sank onto the throne with his head in his hands.

Gwen came up next to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "We will find him Arthur, I know we will." She said trying to comfort him.

"No Guinevere I don't think we will. I have destroyed what friendship we had because of wha."t I did to him. I didn't accept him for who he was and now I don't have his friendship at all. He's not coming back...there is no way he will forgive me after this." Arthur felt broken inside. He hated himself and he hated what he had done to Merlin and most of all he hated the fact that there was nothing he would be able to do to get him back.

"Did you hear what Merlin said before he left? 'I'm sorry, I am so sorry but I cannot protect you when I am dead my friend.' He wouldn't have called you that if he understood why you did what you did. Merlin is not the type to hold a grudge like that; I know he will be able to forgive you."

"I know that he won't. I did the unthinkable to him. He was my closest friend and hurt him beyond repair. Merlin's not coming back."

~O~O~O~

From that moment forward the disintegration of the Kings mental health got worse and worse. With every day that he lived with what he had done to his friend the King's mood spiraled down into a stupor just short of depression. As he got worse so did the situation with the land and the weather. After the land had dried out then came the rain and the clouds. There was a constant cloud cover over the kingdom that meant no one saw the sun. The people soon began to suffer as they had no land to grow the food they needed to survive and with the constant rain and cold there was no wood to be able to make fires with. Camelot was falling beyond compare and there was nothing that their king could do. The shadow was falling low over Camelot and everyone was suffering for it.

People began going to Gaius, sick with cold and hunger, but there was nothing that the old man could do. Weeks turned into months and Merlin still didn't come. The shadow had descended to cover Camelot at the height of their tallest tower. Knights went up to investigate and any that got too close froze to a painful death. After four months Arthur decided that he needed to do something; he now knew that it was him that had caused it. Maybe it needed to consume him to disappear; if it consumed its creator would it cancel itself out?

As the word got back to Gaius that Arthur was going to sacrifice his own life to save the kingdom the old man knew that they needed Merlin. Only he could bring them out of this; they needed him back to save them all like he had done so many times before. Arthur's death would not help them to rid themselves of the shadow; only Merlin's power and unfaltering compassion and selflessness could. No one could have guessed the consequences of one simple event four months previously that had only been one man leaving his home behind to save his friend the pain of actions. So it was this day on the fourth month that Brooke rode out on a horse to get Merlin so that he could save them all. Little did Brooke know of the consequences of this event that for them both that would shape her relationship with Merlin and the path which her magic would take.


	13. Chapter 12

King Arthur stood at the window of his chambers that overlooked the vast area of Camelot's land. He saw the destruction that his distress had caused and the failure that he had been as king. Arthur knew it was his fault that Camelot's land and people were on the brink of ruin so he knew that he had to do something. Arthur had gone to Gwen and told her what he was planning to do to save his kingdom. When he found her that afternoon she was standing out on the balcony of their chambers. His heart felt heavy as he walked over and even the movement of him putting his arm around her waist felt foreign to him; he had lost his self over what he had done to his friend. The guilt of his wracked his body and soul so when he went to Gwen he knew exactly what he had to do to put things right. He had spent many a sleepless night thinking of what he needed to do.

"Guinevere, you know better than anyone that I need to go up there. I am the reason this all happened and I need to stop it if I can." He felt Gwen rest her head against his chest but even this loving movement didn't feel right, it wasn't Gwen's fault but Arthur knew nothing she could do would help him.

"I know Arthur but can't you just search for Merlin one last time? He could help; you wouldn't have to sacrifice yourself. I know that Merlin would be able to stop the shadow from growing any bigger and doing more damage." Gwen looked up into her husband's eyes, "I can't lose you Arthur!"

"Guinevere, please don't make this any harder than it already is. He's gone and you know it. I drove him away and I need to fix what I started. I am so sorry Guinevere; I love you my queen, oh so so much, but I need to go." With those words hanging in the air Arthur kissed Gwen softly on the lips and then left the balcony to go and instruct his knights on what to do when he was gone.

As soon as she knew Arthur had walked in the direction of the training fields Gwen ran to Gaius's chambers. At the small staircase leading up to the rooms she scaled the steps two at a time to get to the door which she then promptly knocked on. "Gaius? Are you here? It's Gwen, I need your help."

"I'm here Gwen, Brooke's here too if you were looking for her."

Gwen pushed open heavy wooden door, and stepped into the small room. Brooke was sitting at the window and looked like she had just been talking to Gaius; the old physician was grinding some leaves to a fine powder in a small bowl. When the Queen entered, Brooke rose to her feet and gave a small curtsey. "My lady, what do you need?"

"I need help," Gwen took in a deep breath, "with Arthur; he is going to sacrifice himself to the shadow. Arthur thinks it will cease to exist if the things source dies but I don't agree. I know that magic is outlawed and that all that I have seen of it has been used for evil but we need Merlin. He and his power are the only things that can bring us out of this hell; I am sure of it. Please Gaius, you must have some way you can contact him?"

"I am sorry I do not my lady, but Brooke can. Leave it to us and Merlin will be here in time to help Arthur." The old physician reassured.

"Brooke but how…?" Gwen began staring at her maid in shock but Gaius silenced her with a look and she closed her mouth

"I need you to trust us Gwen," Gaius used her name in the hope the she would trust and understand the situation they were in, "but if you could keep Arthur away from it for as long as possible that would help a lot."

"Ok…thank you; both of you." Gwen gave them a small smile before turning and leaving pulling the door closed behind her.

As soon as Gwen was gone Brooke turned to Gaius, worry etched onto her face, "Gaius you know what Merlin has said every time I have tried to convince him to return. What will make the difference this time?"

"You know my dear; I think Merlin will be able to see the urgency now. You need to go, call for Kilgarrah again and he will help you find him."

"Yeah, I think you're right Gaius, I will see you soon." She pulled the midnight blue traveling cloak from its hook on the wall and left the room pulling the door closed behind her. Brooke then ran down to the stables where she untied Shelby and led him out of the stables.

~O~O~O~

Gwen watched from the window of her chambers as Brooke led a dapple grey hourse out of the stables. Distracted for a moment Gwen wondered why they own a horse of that coat in the first place. All of their horses were white, brown or black; then she remembered, every so ofter an odd coat was born and those were the horses that the servants of the royals used if they needed. She watched as Brooke then pulled a midnight blue traveling cloak around her shoulders, mounted the horse and it cantered out of the gates of Camelot. Gwen really hoped Brooke would be able to find Merlin. He was their only hope with the power he could wield. She hoped though that nothing would happen to Merlin because if he did...well...she wouldn't know what to think.

~O~O~O~

Merlin could tell from the land up to Camelot's border that the problems with Arthur's mental stability must have escalated as what ever happened to the king it allways seemed to reflect in the kingdom. The sky was a dull grey and the possibility of rain was inevitable. It all ways seemed to rain when something like this happened so Merlin knew he needed to get back to Camelot. He sat up from his position lying on the bed role he had brought, he ran his fingers over his jaw. He frowned at the stubble he found there, he had all ways shaved at Camelot but after he had left he had let it grow, using his time to study magic and improve his skills. As he pulled himself into a standing position in the small cave he had found he thought, no matter I doubt they'll

notice; anyway I'm pretty sure I know how fix this and the way it's going to end it definately won't matter what I look like. Merlin packed what little he had into his bag and pulled the grey traveling cloak around his shoulders before mounting his horse and galloping towards Camelot. Hoping that he wouldn't be too late. He had left around lunch judging by the sun so he hoped it was still light by the time he got there.

As the shadows became longer he worried more and more that he was too late but in the distance, Merlin saw the figure of a person on a horse; as he drew closer the figure came into focus. There was no mistaking that light blonde hair and midnight blue traveling cloak; Brooke had come to get him. Merlin clicked his heels and Will picked up his pace to a gallop so that they could catch up to Brooke. A wide grin spread over Merlin's face as he heard Brooke call out to him. "Brooke!" He replied with an equally joyous response.

"It's so good I bumped into you now," Brooke replied as Shelby slowed to a stop next to Merlin's horse. "We need to go, Arthur's planning on walking up to the shadow to destroy it. It won't work though. We know it won't. It will just kill him. Then Camelot will be Kingless and..." she said this all pretty fast, he voice getting more panicked as she went along.

"Brooke, Brooke," Merlin interrupted, keeping his voice calm. "Everything is going to be perfectly fine ok. I can fix it, all of it..."

"You can? Really because every person who has tried to fix it hame been killed and..."

"Yes, I can because I can use my magic but I can't guarantee I won't get hurt."

"Then I'll help you! I am not going to let you go in there alone!" Brooke protested defiantly, her eyes blazing.

"No you will not, I could never forgive myself if something happened to you. This is powerful magic we are playing with here and I don't even know if someone with my power will be able to survive it."

"But..." Brooke began but the look Merlin gave her was enough to silence her but inside her mind was whirring, she would help Merlin whether he wanted her to or not. As if she would let him fix all that alone!

"Thank you, now we really need to go." Merlin said as he waited for Brooke to pull her horse around to face the direction of Camelot. They both clicked their heels to bring their horses up to a gallop and they sped of in the direction of Camelot.

As they entered the gates at Camelot it was evident that the news of Arthur's plan had spread through the whole castle and everyone had gathered under the tallest tower to watch what would happen. Even the guards at the front gates had left their posts so Merlin and Brooke were able to enter in noticed by the growing crowds. They quickly tied up their horses at the stables and ran through the throngs of people to get a view of the tower which was the only way you could get to the roof. There was no mistaking that mop of sandy blonde hair; Arthur was all ready up there. Merlin ran in the direction of the second entrance at the base of the tower (assuming that Arthur would have used the in castle entrance) with Brooke close behind.

As they got to the door he turned to Brooke with a sad look in his eye and said, "I need you to stay here and make sure no one tries comes up," Brooke looked like she was about to protest but Merlin said, "Please Brooke, I can't let anything happen to you." He pulled her into a light kiss before he stepped through the door and pulled it closed behind him. As he heard Brooke trying to open it he locked it with a flash of gold in his eyes. As he ran up the stairs two at a time the bangs on the door grew quieter and his own quickening heart beat filled his ears.


	14. Chapter 13

Brooke banged on the door for a while longer before she remembered she had magic. Not caring that the whole of Camelot was watching Brooke stood back and pulling all her power from within and threw it at the door with all the strength she could muster. Her eyes flashed gold and with a rush of air that made her long hair blow around her face the door crashed back off it's hinges banging back into the wall behind. With a satisfied yell Brooke ran up the winding stair well to where Merlin was. When she reached the top though she practically flew into the small room at the top and made to climb onto the roof but she was stopped by something. Brooke couldn't see anything there but there was a solid magical barrier in front of her, she could sense the magic reverbarating off it. It was Merlin's. Brooke banged her fists childishly against the barrier, achieving only two rather sore hands.

Sadly, Brooke watched beyond the barrier as Merlin edged closer and closer to the shadow. She could see his jaw moving but could hear nothing that was going on. Through the haze of the shadow Brooke could just make out a figure that looked a lot like Arthur who was making strange arm movements seemingly in response to Merlin's words. In any other situation it would be rather comical but under the circumstances...well...it was the complete oposite to comedy.

Banging her hands against the barrier one last time Brooke sprinted back down to watch from below.

~O~O~O~

Merlin stood balenced on the ridge of the roof joining two of Camelot's tallest towers. The shadow loomed menacingly over him making a shiver run down his spine. Merlin could hear wispers coming from it, horrible, negative things that he hoped he would never have had to hear. What made it worse though was the fact that the whole thing was a manifestation of Arthur's thoughts and feelings. He had to take it within himself and destroy it; he was Emrys and he had to protect the Once and Future King no matter the price.

Through the dark haze Merlin could see a figure moving towards the shapeless shadow on the other side and knowing it was Artur he called out to him, "Stop!"

"M...Merlin?" Was Arthurs's only response using his ex-manservants name for the first time since he had left. He was astounded that Merlin was even here.  _How did he know to come here?_ Arthur thought  _Trying to save my life even though I rejected him._

"I need you to trust me and step back from the shadow!"

"But...!" Artur interupted but the tone of Merlin's next words shut him up.

"Please Arthur...let me do this last thing for you. You have a Kingdom to run and a wife who loves you. I'm just a servant...well I'm not even that anymore so my life is worthless next to yours."

"Merlin I can't let you. I made this...this thing and I need to destroy it!"

"Arthur you will die if you go any closer!" Merlin yelled his tone becoming low and dangerous.

"And so will you!" Arthur retorted with just as much ferosity laced through his tone. He couldn't see Merlin but he could see his thin frame and it had just moved forward a little. "Merlin." He growled.

"Yes, I might..." Merlin responded carefully, "...but there is also a chance that I will be able to fight and kill it with..." he hesitated slightly, "...with my magic." So not waiting for a reply Merlin stepped forward into the writhing mas of shadow. Almost instantaniously Merlin felt his body turn to ice; the last thing he heard before he was lost in his own screams of agony was Artur's yell of "Merlin NO!"

Arthur watched in horror as Merlin stepped forward into the shadow into the shadow and a blood curdling scream was wrenched from his friends throat. The instant the shadow touched Merlins body Arthur could only stand and watch mouth open and eyes wide as the shadow seemed to be slowly clustering around Merlins head. Merlin's scream had ceased and he then began speaking in a strange language, his tone was low as almost poetic lines escaped his lips. Then suddenly the black shadow seemed to absorb through his eyes like a thick black liquid. Arthur jumped as Merlin screamed a long drawn out scream that lifted him up off the roof his arms spread out to the sides, his back arching. Then all of a sudden he went limp, still floating he pulled his head up and Arthur watched as Merlin opened his eyes to reveal shiny black orbs. Arthur jumped back almost loosing his balence, pure fear filling his heart but that was before Merlin spoke, then it was like all hope was lost. Merlin had been taken by the shadow and there was nothing he could do.

 _"Arthur what have you done?"_ Merlin's new rough, dark voice said menacingly,  _"You have destroyed any chance for Camelot to become the shining kingdom it was meant to be. You destroyed your friendship with your only true fri..."_ Then Merlin paused for a sec and seemed to be battling with himself, to keep control of his voice. "No Arthur don't listen to itaaaah!" Merlin pleaded back in his own voice before the shadow took over again,  _"...end and now you have sentenced him to a slow and painful death. I have him now, I have control of him and when he is gone I will use his shell to give you hell. That is what he want's for you, you kn..."_ "No that's not true!"  _"...ow? Well you did reject him for being what he is, I don't blame him."_

"No!"

_"What?" It growled._

"I said no! Merlin doesn't think like that! If you are there Merlin,"  _please make that be true_  "I have something I need to tell you. I am so so sorry for everything I have done to you and your kind. I appologise for all my father did to you and your kind as well. I was wrong, oh so wrong to judge you so quickly. So Merlin, my friend, fight it please, if not for me then for Brooke, Gwen, Gaius or the knights. They need you, I need you. I am so so sorry for everything."

At that a painful scream was wrenched from Merlin as his arms flung out to the sides and with it came a huge burst of raw power. The scream lasted for the time it took for a golden glow to envelop his body and for his eyes to snap open again to reveal them to be a warm gold. As Merlin's wide eye's filled with tears they faded back to blue and he said in barely more than a wisper, "I forgive you my friend." A small smile graced his lips before his eyes slid shut and he fell from where he had been floating barely seconds before.

"MERLIN!" Arthur yelled jumping forward trying to grab him but his friend was all ready out of his reach. Arthur's heart was thumping right out of his chest, his second cry of "MERLIN!" merged with Brooke's scream as Merlin rolled of the sloping roof and plummeted towards the ground.


	15. Chapter 14

Brooke watched the conversation play out above her. She couldn't catch every word which, when thought about it, that was probably a good thing. She watched as the shadow was absorbed into Merlin and then as a golden light exploded around him she watched as his body went limp and fell from the roof. Brooke's involuntary scream merged with Arthur's yell of "MERLIN!" as their friend fell to his death. It took Brooke precious seconds for her magical instincts to kick in; her eyes flashed a warm gold and Merlin's falling body slowed it's decent (much to the amazement of the crowd) but even with the aid, as Merlin's body hit the cobbled ground with a hard thump there was no grantee that he wasn't badly hurt.

There was complete silence as Brooke sank down onto her knees next to Merlin as did Gaius who immediately began to check Merlin's injuries. "Could you get everyone back please? Maybe get them to go back home?" Gaius asked Sir Leon. The knight then immediately set about organising the other knights to start clearing the space. Gwen came over and knelt next to Brooke who had slipped her shaking hand into Merlin's ice cold one, placing a comforting hand on her friend's shoulders. It was just that moment Arthur came pushing through the crowd, his voice was shaking and husky when he spoke, worry lacing his tone, "Is he alive? Gaius? Please, is he alive?" He said his tone becoming more urgent.

"Yes, he is, thank goodness he is." Gaius replied as he brushed strand of Merlin's black hair off his wards face. Tears of joy were damp on his cheeks but he cared little for what people thought if they saw. He's back, he's back and he's alive. That is all that matters. "We need to get him up to my chambers, is there someone who can get me the stretcher from my rooms?"

"No...I'll take him," Arthur replied as he knelt down by Merlin's limp body and lifted him into his arms, pulling Merlin's hand from Brooke's, cradling him against his chest. He didn't care for status now; he felt all eyes on him as he carried his friend through the dispersing crowd but didn't care in the slightest. The incredulous whispers followed him all the way to the physician's chambers: Why on earth was the king of Camelot carrying a known sorcerer through the Castle grounds?

Gwen and Gaius followed behind Arthur who was walking as quickly as possible cradling Merlin in his arms. Brooke, who knew the drill well enough to know that Gaius would probably need lots of blankets and warm water she went find Sir Percival who, despite his size, he was the knight she felt most comfortable speaking to. She found, him shepherding a few of the towns folk who had gathered round the base of the tower back to their homes. Brooke called out to him, hesitantly at first but when she repeated it had a lot more confidence in it, "Sir Percival!"

Percival whipped around, "Brooke, what is it?" He studied the young woman's face, her dark brown eyes were full of worry and there were light tear tracks on her cheeks. Other than that she looked fine, well fine enough for the situation.

"I know it's not really my position to ask but could you get. Some warm water from the kitchen and bring it up to Gaius's chambers? It's for Merlin; he's as cold as ice. I'm going to get some more blankets"

"Of course Brooke, why ever not? I'll be up there soon." He replied before placing a comforting hand on Brookes arm and running in the direction of the kitchens.

"Thank you!" Brooke called after him and ran towards the other part of the castle where everything was stored.

~O~O~O~

Gaius was examining Merlin's body; the man was cold as ice, still breathing but after lifting his heavy lids Gaius saw that Merlin's usually bright blue eyes were now greyer than blue and unseeing. "He's freezing cold," Gaius said urgently, "we are going to need warm water and lots of blankets." Gaius looked up at Arthur who was staring down at Merlin with a mixture of worry and shock on his face. Gwen was next to him with a supportive hand in his. Right at that moment the door was opened and Percival entered at a quick walk, a bucket of water clutched in his hand. "Where do you want it?" Percival asked quickly shifting the bucket to the other hand.

"Here, over by Merlin. How did you know?" Gaius asked incredulously.

"Brooke." Percival stated simply. That moment Brooke stumbled into the room, her arms laydened with thick blankets. Percival steadied her with a small smile on his face and then took the blankets from her placing them on the end of Merlin's bed. "I'd better be off, need to see if there is anything else I can do to help." He gave a small bow to the king and queen, and nods respectively to Brooke and Gaius before he left the room.

"How is he?" Brooke asked urgently as soon as Percival had left, asking the question on everyone's lips. She began to spread the blankets over Merlin's freezing body, tenderly tucking them around him, her eyes shining with tears.

"He's not dead," Gaius replied slowly as if he was about to share something terrible despite the fact that Merlin wasn't dead, "but I think I know what's wrong with him." Gaius swallowed, his gaze moving slowly to each of the three other people in the room in turn.

Arthur and Gwen standing together hand in hand, Brooke kneeling down by Merlin, tenderly tucking the blanket's around him.

Arthur clenched his jaw as if bracing himself for the worst, "What is it Gaius?"

"Merlin is stuck. Stuck between the spirit world and the land of the living. Neither dead nor alive. Imprisoned within his own head." Gaius paused for a moment, "As far as I know there has never been anyone who has woken up from this state. Merlin is stuck like this forever."

A look of shocked despair came over all their faces, Arthur stood resolute, stiff as a board while Gwen lent her head onto her husband's shoulder. Gaius sank into the nearest chair his eyes locked onto Merlin's lifeless body. A choked sob escaped Brooke's lips as she sank her face into the blankets she had just tucked around Merlin. Her hand found his ice cold one, latching onto what little hope there was left.


	16. Epilogue

It was dark. Oh so dark. And cold. He didn't know where he was. He couldn't see anything. It was completely silent. He didn't even know who he was. He tried to move, but couldn't. His voice seemed to not work as well.

He came to the conclusion that he was in some sort of prison; not able to see hear, feel, taste or smell.  _I can think though._ He realised.  _Joy. Trapped in a prison with only my own thoughts to keep me company. If I'm in a prison though,_ he thought,  _who put me here and why?_ Deciding that that would be a question for later the man (as that was one thing he was 100% sure of) asked himself  _Who the hell am I?_ This more pressing question kept him occupied for...well...it could have been hours, could have been months or it could have minutes for all he knew. There was no way of tracking time unless he counted whichhe thought  _would be one way to keep my mind occupied._

So he did; the man began to count; counting the seconds until his release.


End file.
